Press "Enter" to skip to content

Letter: NAACP opposes proposed transfer

Editor, Gazette-Journal:

The Mathews Branch NAACP objects in the strongest possible terms to the proposed transfer of the public land to the Sons of Confederate Veterans and United Daughters of the Confederacy. The land in question is in the historic courthouse and surrounds the Confederate statue.

Although 80 percent of Mathews residents voted to keep the statue in its current location, we did not vote to approve the proliferation of Confederate flags publicly displayed throughout the county. The First Amendment permits anyone to fly whatever flag they choose on private property. We have plenty of those in Mathews County. If the land around the statue is conveyed to these two organizations, we should reasonably expect to see more and larger Confederate flags in that space.

Much has been made in recent public discourse about whether people are discomforted by images or words that are deemed divisive. We can think of no more divisive symbol in the United States than the Confed...

To view the rest of this article, you must log in. If you do not have an account with us, please subscribe here.