The May 28 letter âHonoring Military Veterans Fighting For Our Freedomâ is an example of historical revision by omission and deserves historical context.Â
The author discusses the origin of Memorial Day in the aftermath of the Civil War as Decoration Day, but glosses over the deep divisions that existed in the nation that persist to present day.Â
At the heart of the division is how to remember the 260,000 Confederate soldiers who died fighting to uphold the institution of slavery, a brutal system that dehumanized people by branding, beating, rape, separation of families, and forced physical labor. Remembering these soldiers should be separated from honoring the system for which they fought. For many decades, the Southern states observed their own Confederate Memorial Day.Â