My name is Joshua Warren and I wanted to share my thoughts about the War on Confederate Symbols that will soon show up in Jacksonville, my hometown.  I’d love to hear what you think about this matter.

Demonstrators will begin a three-day, 40-mile trek from Jacksonville to St. Augustine protesting confederate symbols in our area.

Targeting four monuments, the march begins at the Confederate Soldiers Memorial at Hemming Park and ends at St. Augustine’s Constitution Plaza, site of the “Foot Soldiers Monument.” The other two monuments are Jacksonville’s “Monument to Women of the Confederacy” and St. Augustine’s “The William Wing Loring Memorial.”

Several groups are involved. Calling it the “March for Change,” one group leader (Wells Todd) says their goal is to “…tell the story about racism, …” Todd continued: “People who think that statues should stay up don’t understand the real history of the United States.” 

Citizens of Jacksonville and St. Augustine are split over this proposal. Should Confederate monuments be removed?

Other questions:

• Why NOW?
• Who decides?
• What is the real agenda?
• Where does it end?

That slavery, Jim-Crow, black-codes, lynching, and Klan activity were all horrific is not disputable. No one agrees with any of it. But, hidden within this controversy is a dark secret, which I will address later.

First,

Why NOW? Why not during Obama’s and Clinton’s tenures?

The timing of these protests is suspect. Why not when Democrats held power? The affront didn’t just happen recently! Many Confederate monuments have been around for a century or more. However, no calls for their removal—until now!

Could this be an attempt to sully President Trump by associating his administration with racism? My bet … YES! Besides that,

Who decides which symbols get erased?

Every one of the organizations supporting this movement is on the progressive left and is dedicated to the destruction of American ideals and traditions.

Why, then, should they decide such an important issue?

What is the real agenda behind this movement?

Organizers claim to want to focus on the history of racism in America. However, anyone who studies history knows that what is being taught in our public-school system and disseminated by liberal activists is revisionist history. That “dark secret” that I alluded to earlier? Here it is: Slavery, Jim Crow, black codes, lynching, and Klan activity were all Democrat ideas and practices!

Could it be that the left wants to rewrite history by removing reminders of its past regarding slavery? Seems likely. But, a bigger question is…

Where does it end?

We know that leftists are ideologically-driven. Rarely are they honest about their end-game. Confederate monuments are not the issue; they are simply the current targets.

Next, will be calls to tear down monuments to the Founders (some owned slaves). Leftists blame the Founders for slavery. They should have stopped it, they argue. But, could they? NO! The economy of the Southern states was dependent on slave labor and could not be changed abruptly without severe damage. Although they could not change the way things were, the Founders ensured that slavery would one day be abolished by what they put into the Constitution.

That won’t be enough, though. What about names associated with these men? Do we change the names of towns, streets, buildings, or other structures named Jefferson? What about Mount Rushmore? These monuments are history, and all history should be preserved: the good, the bad, and the ugly!

We have real problems to solve. The “war on Confederate symbols” isn’t one of them.

What do you think?

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://eyeonjacksonville.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Joshua-Image.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Joshua was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and left at age 19 to join the US Air Force. After four years as an inventory research specialist, he reenlisted as an EOD Technician (Explosive Ordnance Disposal). He had the privilege of training and working in the field with members from every service branch and truly enjoyed that aspect of the job. Assignments took him to Thailand, several U.S. bases, and a six-year stint in West Germany. Following his Air Force career, Joshua moved his family to Kentucky and continued the important job of raising his children. Not satisfied with the condition of the public-school system, Joshua and his spouse decided to home-school their children. It wasn’t easy, but they made it work. With his kids now grown, Joshua decided to pursue a career as an over-the-road trucker, something he’d wanted to do for years. However, after a few years, Joshua left the trucking industry and returned to college to pursue a degree in computer networking. Joshua has also been active in local politics; joining the First Coast Tea Party to help alert the public concerning out of control spending by our “non”-leaders in Washington. Joshua’s personal motto: “No matter how well it is currently being done, it can almost always be done better, faster, or more efficiently.” [/author_info] [/author]