Enough of the flag museum, already
To the editor:
Let’s end this idea of creating a flag shrine, in public space on the capital grounds and evidently at public expense, for a relic that was unfit to fly over the capital because it had evolved into a symbol of hate, hurt, humiliation and misguided patriotism by the cultural hijackers, throgh heroic were the Confederate forces that first used the banner.
Let’s live in the present. If this is to be done, at least show and tell of the many heroic and vile interpretations that the Confederate Flag has been put. If the public’s money or space goes into this project, require that half of the space and budget tell the story of slavery and the travesty upon human life that this hijacked flag reflected and that lives with us today, passed down through Jim Crow.
If this is a $5.3 million “relic room” — it seems that the intent is violated with such a large amount of money spent on such a room; at least implied by the word room -– but the legislation did not say “Build the Museum” that is proposed. Evidently this exuberant expenditure gets legitimized when the spending is framed as or cloaked over as part of some ill-defined economic development magic to revitalize a place (The current relic room.) that few visit.
Speaking of better tourist traps, why cannot the operators of plantations and the tours of them tell more and a much better story of the effects of slavery — you know, the full story that may include our lesser selves? Some of the presentations are hokum even though the gardens are nice. Besides these folks did not tend their own gardens – they enjoyed them; it was the slaves who toiled under this hot and humid sky to build and maintain them.
What is presented at all the plantations should be authenticated as true, or at least scored, perhaps applying an outline or guidance from the Smithsonian African Museum, Penn School, Charleston African-American Museum, College of Charleston, etc., that gets applied to each of the particular plantations. There is too much variation in authenticity and completeness in the plantations’ holdings to piece together the full story. It is necessary to identify what is there and what is missing, so that the full story gets told across multiple plantations, hopefully in a way that is both consistent and true for visitors.
And this includes the proposed relic room.
— Fred Palm, Edisto Island, S.C.
Time to reform unfair permanent alimony laws
To the editor:
I am writing concerning the unfair permanent alimony laws in South Carolina. There is a unjust weight being placed on those forced to pay permanent alimony. When the law says “permanent alimony,” it means that this payment is for the rest of your life, unless your ex-spouse remarries.
There are so many payers that can never retire because they are burdened with lifetime alimony payments. Many are facing bankruptcy and then jail time if they cannot pay. This is a form of indentured servitude and should be limited to no more than half the length of the marriage.
Things have changed since the early 1900s when women could not own property or find a decent job and were not even considered legal entities. Women are now in the workforce making equal pay. They are CEOs of large companie and many own their own companies. They now make more money than men in four out of 10 households. So now there are also more and more women being forced to pay permanent alimony.
There is an organization called South Carolina Alimony Reform that is calling for improvement and fairness to the current alimony laws. You can contact them at their web site at SCalimonyreform.com or write to them at scalimonyreform@gmail.com.
Please contact your House legislators and ask them to vote for alimony reform and support bill H. 4029 during the current legislative session. Ask your senators to vote for the companion bill in the Senate. No one should have to pay another person for the rest of their life simply because their marriage failed.
— Wyman Oxner, Orangeburg, S.C.
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