Auburn councilman apologizes for removing flags from graves

It is a well known fact that the Confederate Flag doubles as a symbol of Racism and Hate.  It is often carried by Ku Klux Klan and Skinhead groups alike.  It was recently used by a white fraternity to terrorize a black sorority at the University of Alabama. (See-Ala. fraternity apologizes to black sorority in todays news)
This is what causes most Americans to despise the Confederate Flag. This is why it was removed from the capital.  So don’t act like this is a big surprise or an atrocity that blacks and most other Americans are offended by it. Most of you people posting here are racist. I can tell by your tone.  You don’t care that your flag is being used by Hate Groups and you’d probably like to see the Councilman hung from the highest tree.  If you truly love the Confederate Flag, stop using it as a symbol of hate. PEACE!!!

WHAT A LOAD OF RAMBLING NONSENSE…  This was not an apology but more an explanation as to why he did it…  There was no remorse, no humility, no admission that what he did was wrong, no request for forgiveness…  He still broke the law, and is going to get away with it…  The actor Michael Richards (Kramer) got counseling from Jessie Jackson for his use of the N-word (Long before Jessie Jackson got caught using it himself)...  I think Mr. Dowdell should attend some counseling sessions for his intolerance and insensitivity…

I don’t believe I am a racist, and I always try to look past whatever a person looks like on the outside, and instead, I look first at a person’s eyes.  The eyes can tell you a lot about a person.  With that said, I am upset that this council man, representing ALL the people in his district, would do such a thing without verifying what was going, and even then, respecting graves etc. enough to REQUEST the flags be removed.  Second, he says he did not know the flags were there for a memorial recognition.  It seems to me that what happened in this country prior to, during, and continuing after the War Between the States should be required learning in schools over and over again.  We should all know OUR history.  I am shocked every time I talk to an African American student or person and discover that I know more about African American history than they do.  Our history works with us in identifying who we are.  This is important.  Insist that your children know our history.  And please, Confederate battle flags and other Confederate items do mean racial slurs are couched in their presentations.  These are items to recognize our history by.  In an earlier article, this councilman remarked that the flags offended him and intimidated him.  I imagine there are a lot of things he has done that have offended other people too, but they are not yanking his tie off of him, or any other acts because they are offended.  And as for being intimidated, he is the one with the problem there.  I am not going to tell him how he should or should not feel.  I just think that it is sad that anyone would feel intimidated by a display of small, inanimate objects.  He is a man; he is a councilman; he has influence; he has supporters.  These give him a strong voice in his community.  He needs to boost his self-confidence and put aside any intimidation he feels…just my opinion on that.  He can do what he wants as far as that is concerned.  Someone recently stole a beautiful flower arrangement from my husband’s grave.  I felt really violated, and I fervently wished there is some such thing as ghosts, and that the person would be “visited” for perpetrating such a despicable act.  Well, for taking and breaking something from someone’s grave, Mr. Councilman, that person’s family has a right to feel violated, has a right to ask you what gives YOU the right…on private property, no less.  I have to shut up now, or I will continue to harangue about all this.