Do We have a Limit?

The various news medias continue to characterize the current racial protests and demonstrations as "...a nation in turmoil" and other such dramatic headlines, implying that the entire population is caught up in what I believe historians will say was a shameful period in our country's history. I use the word shameful because 99% of the adult population is doing nothing while the 1% taking part in the hysteria is attempting to destroy an important period of our past.  

In addition to those taking an active physical role in erasing history, there is a second wave jumping on the white guilt, self-flagellation bandwagon. Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben's Rice are disappearing, with apologizes from Quaker Oats for perpetuating the raciest stereotype all these years. It's funny...I've been consuming those products for nearly 80 years and never once thought about race or any significance at all about the product names or icons. The NFL and other sports organizations have become white apologists, as have TV channels and just about any other organization you can name.  

There is an urgency about changing the names of military bases and schools because the present names are associated with Confederate military people or events. Just yesterday Maribel and I took a ride through several residential neighborhoods in Fort Oglethorpe. In one relatively new subdivision every street name was that of a Confederate general. How long will it be before some group demands that the streets be renamed? 

But what really prompted this post is a comment Maribel voiced during our ride yesterday. She wondered if a time will come when public libraries will be stormed by activists to remove all Confederate related books, or worse yet, if local authorities will voluntarily remove them. That brought to mind seeing newsreels of Nazi book-burnings. Would those of us not caught up in the hysteria stand by and allow that to happen?  Is there a limit to what we will tolerate?

Maribel and I frequently visit antique/junk stores. Occasionally we will see Confederate flags for sale, though not nearly as many now as there were months ago. The thought crossed my mind that I'd like to buy one, and fly it on our front porch below the American flag. Obviously not because I support the Confederacy, but because I support the preservation of history. But I won't do that.

I won't do it because I am concerned that some zealot will see it and return in the dark of night to vandalize our house, or throw rocks through a window. I don't feel good about my fear. I feel like a coward, too fearful to stand up for a principle I believe in. And somehow I don't think that I'm alone in that fear.  

What will it take for me, and I believe the vast majority of Americans to say, "Okay...that's enough!"? Do we have a limit? Sadly, I don't believe we do. I think that, as long as we're not individually, physically confronted our attitude is to sit back, shaking our heads and letting whatever happens, happen.