I’m a Southerner, born and raised in NC. When I was a kid the KKK held a rally in my town that erupted in violence and I remember feeling scared not just for me but for my friends of different skin colors. It was my first experience with blatant racism.

While I support free speech, I find it disappointing when Southerners forget they lost the Civil War and insist on celebrating such a tainted time in our history. (Yes, my family fought for the Confederacy; not something that I find celebratory.). As a lover of history, I believe that history should be studied and remembered. I’m very patriotic too. Which is perhaps, in addition to not being able to accept slavery, I can’t celebrate the Confederacy. At best, these folks were not patriots of the United States, which is my home. At worst, their acts could be considered treason.

What I don’t get is why 100+ years later, some insist on celebrating the lowest time in our country’s history, and I’ll be honest, I don’t want to understand it. That’s one of my many flaws. I am very unforgiving of what I consider to be willful stupidity.

This weekend, one of these groups is gathering in Oxford, MS. Going beyond the “we love the South of the past” message, one person has been spewing violent threats on Facebook. The university has been proactive and sending messages to the students to avoid the areas of the march and to try to ignore the messages, not engaging with these groups. This is obviously not university sanctioned but if you’ve ever been to Oxford, you know that the university and city are closely intertwined.

Please pray for the safety of the students and the police during this weekend’s unfortunate events.

We can be better and I’m glad my daughter is staying away from campus and the square this weekend to be safe. She shouldn’t have to do so.