My Letter to Editor

Published in today's Laurel (MD) Leader:



In the Leader for June 25, Gwendolyn Glenn wrote movingly about the sudden rush by some politicians to dissociate themselves from display of the Confederate flag, especially in South Carolina, following the murder of nine people at a Charleston church. As a memorial to the dead, taking down the flag is a fine symbol, but I'd prefer to see something more tangible. What a tribute it would be if the states that have enacted insanely restrictive voter ID laws, purely to make it harder for black citizens to vote, were to repeal all those laws. It would look almost like sincerity on the part of the politicians.

And props to Maryland's own Bree Newsome, for having the courage, integrity and patriotism to scale the flagpole outside the South Carolina state house and take down the banner of sedition!