We must be a nation of doers, not blamers

The Sons of Confederate Veterans recently ran an ad titled “Let’s Bring Our Community Together.” It is a message calling for the preservation of our history.

We cannot deny, or forget, that slavery, racism and hate are part of the fabric of our nation. Slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment in 1865. Unfortunately, racism and hate cannot be abolished and still exist. Ignorance of, and ignoring, our history is wrong and will not make a difference.

I do believe the catalyst of the Civil War was the economics of slavery. However, the boys in blue basically fought to preserve the Union and not for, or against, slavery. The boys in gray basically fought against an invading army and not for, or against, slavery.

When we take today’s problems and try to blame them on a flag, or a statue, we are doing a great injustice to the soldiers, slaves, civilians, immigrants, and all who fought, died, were horribly wounded, sacrificed and suffered, for reasons far different than the spin we put on their actions of 150 years ago.

My point: Take responsibility for your actions. Quit blaming and start doing. Blame is easy: someone else is responsible. This nation, the United States of America, was built by doers, not by blamers. We, as a nation of diverse backgrounds, owe it to ourselves, our forefathers and our heirs to do what we can in our own actions to help each other. It is not the answer, but it is a start.

This story was originally published September 26, 2017 at 1:31 PM with the headline "We must be a nation of doers, not blamers."