Turning a Blind Eye to America’s History is Not the Answer

Florida is among the southern states which observe Confederate Memorial Day on April 26th of each year. The day commemorates the roughly 260,000 Confederate soldiers who lost their lives defending the Confederacy during the American Civil War. 

Supporters of the holiday argue it is an opportunity to reflect and honor the soldiers who fought and died defending the South. Many weren’t fighting explicitly for slavery, but rather for their states’ sovereign rights to independent self-governance, as preserved in the Constitution.

Others criticize the observance of this memorial, seeing it only as glorifying a cause that was rooted in racism and slavery. However, the Civil War was also about sectionalism and secession.

In the words of American philosopher George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. Our nation must be willing to remember and learn from past mistakes in order to recognize potential risks that could endanger our freedoms in the future. 

Sadly, it seems those risks are now upon us.

The thought of human slavery is abhorrent in our modern time. We should take tremendous pride in being among the first nations to have abolished the practice which, at that time in history, was accepted throughout much of the world and enslaved people of many nationalities. 

And yet, our entire nation has now been inundated with modern-day human slavery, spreading far beyond the southern states. Ironically, the political party which has been encouraging rioting in recent years over the injustices of slavery which occurred many generations ago is also the party perpetuating this influx of modern-day slavery. 

Human trafficking and child sex slaves are being brought in from other nations through our porous southern border. They are then being shipped by the federal government to states throughout the nation in direct violation of immigration laws. A rally entitled How Many More is being held at the state capital in Austin, Texas on April 29th to protest these atrocities. The President of Convention of States, Mark Meckler, will be the Master of Ceremonies at that historic rally.  

Currently, Florida’s fight to protect its sovereign rights has led to the state filing a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s practice of shipping illegal immigrants to Florida, including criminal aliens and unaccompanied minors.

Those who are demanding we turn a blind eye to the dark periods in our nation’s history by abolishing all historical monuments and days of remembrance relating to America’s Civil War are doing a disservice not only to future generations, but to the current population. 

We need to remember and reflect on all of our nation’s history, both good and bad. In doing so we might recognize and address the issues we are currently experiencing in time for the states to can come together in a Convention of States, as outlined in Article V of the Constitution, and save our Republic.