EDITORIAL: Bentley’s decision best for Alabama

Published 6:00 am Thursday, June 25, 2015

Gov. Robert Bentley’s order to remove Confederate flags from the state capitol grounds Wednesday was a sensible and responsible move.

The Republican governor, in the aftermath of the murder of nine people in a South Carolina church last week, saw that leaving the flags intact would only bring more hurt to people who have suffered from generations on racism in Alabama and the Deep South. The flags remaining in place would also have turned the upcoming special session of the Legislature into an unproductive and embarrassing debacle with long debates over the banners.

Bentley acknowledged that the history of the Confederate States of America is important to many people, but while ordering the flags removed he also is boldly declaring that Alabama must forget the over-romanticized lost cause that nearly dissolved the United States.

The order simply removes Confederate flags and emblems from state government grounds. There shouldn’t be any confusion about which government the state serves.

Alabama, even with its devastating past of segregation and brutality during the post-Civil War years, stands today as a promising place in America. The investments that have come to the state in recent years have made Alabama fertile ground for more companies to come here with jobs, or to expand the investments they have already made.

Despite the loud opposition to Bentley’s decision that filled social media, removing a few flags from government property does not reinterpret history or disrespect the ancestors of Alabamians who died in service to the Confederacy. However, it is important to remember that millions of people are free to live as Americans today because the horror of slavery came to an end 150 years ago at the cost of many lives. And, yes, we understand that the Civil War was about states rights to many people, and not about slavery, although that ugly aspect of the time period will be forever associated with the conflict.

Alabama belongs to everyone who claims citizenship. This state does not exist to preserve history or promote one race over another. Alabama is a government of the people and should exist to serve the entire population by assisting in the development of the economy and providing services that are vital to everyone’s lives.