SYMBOLS: Southerner shares perspective

After reading the Sunday, July 28 edition of The Press, I found it ironic that on the front page you published an article decrying a racist float entry in the July 4 parade and an opinion piece on the lifestyle section decrying the removal of statues depicting confederate leaders like Robert E. Lee.

As a native Virginian whose heritage is in the South and once had a painting of Lee on his wall, even I have come to understand that such statues are less about “heritage” and more about racism, as most of these monuments were constructed by white supremacists during the modern civil rights movement of the 20th century. They were intended as explicit expressions of resistance to the movement for equal rights for African Americans.

If a southern boy from Virginia understands confederate monuments and battle flags are racist, then certainly Northerners from the great state of Idaho should be able to understand this as well.

DAVID GUTHRIE

Seattle

(visiting Coeur d’Alene)