By Pat Stacey It has been one-hundred-fifty years since the
beginning of the Civil War – the war that tore our country
apart. No one living today was living while the Civil War was
fought but many of the reasons that the Civil war was fought
still exist today. We have recently seen a controversy involving
the flying of the confederate flag over the Anderson County
Courthouse in Palestine. And not unexpectedly, feelings – strong
feelings – were displayed. The Confederate flag means different
things to different people and in the South, we are reminded of
the reasons why the Civil war was fought. The Sons of
Confederate Soldiers want to honor those who fought and died
from East Texas and there were thousands of young men who served
and perished for the confederate cause. But ,the Confederate
flag also serves as a reminder for many of the tragedy of
slavery. It may be packaged up as a states' rights issue but
much of the emotion centers around slavery. I don't think we
should discount the need to remember those