by Molly Jo Realy @RealMojo68

Frankly, My Dear . . . : Have we all lost our heads?!

I think I might catch some flack for this post. But you know, I’m writing a novel set in New Orleans. And I have friends in the South. I’ve steeped myself in the history and heritage of the area. I welcome it with all its bumps and bruises.

It’s so rich with culture and inheritance–bad and good.

And I just have to raise my glass of sweet tea and ask,

HAVE Y’ALL LOST YOUR HEADS OR SOMETHING?!

What is with the impetuous tearing down of monuments all over? Banning flags? Erasing history?

We are defining hate upon hate upon hate, and saying it’s okay because one belief is better than the other which we should have not believed in the first place. Folks, I just don’t understand.

We are raising a culture of “My way is the only way so get out of it” mentality. Did I say raising? Forget that. We’re there.

We are a people of Me. Courtesy is a thing of the past. Understanding and compassion are good so long as they’re reciprocated.

The world is going to heck in a black-of-night, flag-draped, history-erasing basket. And we’re holding the handles!

Frankly, My Dear . . . : Have we all lost our heads?!

How are we, as a people, as a country, allowing these things to happen under the guise of political correctness? And if we continue to do so, shouldn’t we demand equal banning across the board?

Where is the Common Sense Party?

How are neo-Nazis still allowed to march with their flag, when the Dukes of Hazzard is being pulled from television stations for driving the General Lee? Why are the Ten Commandments being forced out of schools but wiccan symbols are allowed?

It doesn’t make sense to me.

I don’t endorse or embrace much of what happened during the Civil War Era. I’m not a fan of the German Occupation or Hitler’s genocide. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t exist. It doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be used as a lesson. We can’t–nor should we–erase it from the history books, or from our minds.

Our culture seems so embroiled with the “act now, think later” mentality that we are endangering ourselves.

And protestors? Don’t even get me started on those paid-for, bussed-in, rabble-rousers. You have a legitimate complaint? Bring it on. But don’t add fuel to the fire by including for-profit bullying.

Todd Starnes tweeted yesterday, “Should Hamilton the Musical, beloved by liberals, be banished from Broadway because features slaveholding characters like George Washington?” and an overwhelming majority said yes. How disappointing.

A theatre in Memphis is going to stop showing Gone With the Wind because it depicts slavery.

Folks, this is us. This is our past.

Can we please not brush it outside and burn it in effigy?

I’m afraid the next generation will be born not out of love, but for financial gain.

“Hey, let’s have a kid so he or she can sue the pants of the government
or win a class-action settlement.”

I’ve a friend whose parents–Americans, mind you–were interred during the Second World War because they were also Japanese. I don’t see him jumping up and down and fighting for restitution from the states. Is he happy about it? Of course not. But he’s a source of learning, of understanding, of growth. He doesn’t want this information to disappear.

And neither do I.

Folks, can we just take a breath?

Let me say this to all y’all who have been trampled throughout history:

I’m sorry. I am. I truly, deeply, honestly am sorry for all your ancestors went through. I’m sorry some of those attitudes have continued through the generations. But you are not alone. You are not special. Every ethnicity, every gender, every culture, had, has, or will have these same struggles.

I know y’all are angry. But we can’t let this hatred consume our days. We can’t keep doing only what’s right for the individual without a perspective of the world at large.

So please. Stop for a minute. Share your story. Instead of trying to close our eyes and make it disappear, tell us what went wrong and how we can make things better.

I’m not asking y’all to raise monuments for the heck of it. But let’s consider that the monuments we do have are historic. They tell a story. Good and bad. So let’s not hide it.

Tell the rest of the story.

Let this be your monument.

And let history live.

TWEET THIS: Have We All Lost Our Heads?! @RealMojo68 #Southern #History #franklymydear

And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!