On Tuesday, less than a week after nine black Americans were gunned down in a racist act of terrorism, conservative commentator Bill Kristol reacted with incredulity and anger to the news that South Carolina will move forward with plans to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of their State Capitol.
And I couldn't agree more. Bill Kristol is absolutely correct.
The goal of every liberal--no, every American--should be to remove all positive references to the Confederate States of America, a failed, embarrassing nation born out of the belief that those with non-white skin are an inferior class of people who should know their place and accept a society ruled by white men.
The fact that we continue to honor a treasonous, racist, and violent thuggery of mediocre souls only enforces the present-day conditions that witness citizens of color in this country subjected to all forms of discrimination, including injury and death.
The fact that many in the media continue to ignore the obvious racist sentiments inherent in the terrorist attack in Charleston is one incident in a long-running narrative of our country's history being whitewashed and framed as anything other than what it really is: an entrenched, steadfast hatred toward people of color.
The state of the criminal justice system, public education, gentrification, pay inequality, and countless other forms of institutional racism only scratch the surface of a society that still largely pretends racism no longer exists.
One can draw a straight line from the genocide of Antebellum America to the violence and bigotry endured by black citizens today.
You're right, Mr. Kristol. I want the Confederacy to be remembered only for its dark, brutal inhumanity, and I will be damned if I ever celebrate those who took part in it.