Response to Dying for Dixie

This article was definitely more controversial and more sensitive a topic than the previous article. It's hard to believe that people are so steadfast and obsessed in their old ways that it leads to violence. Yet it is not uncommon to hear about someone getting killed or seriously hurt because of a disagreement. People like to think that they have to always defend themselves and their beliefs or throw it in other people's faces. There's this belief that it's us versus them and this mentality adds the fuel that starts the fire. This was the case in Michael Westerman's murder. Though Michael was just a regular guy who supposedly didn't really think much about the Confederate flag, he put it on his truck so he could look cool. As a result, a group of people got offended and resulted to violence because they thought it would fix the problem or it would allow them to prove themselves. I don't think anyone can argue for these boys' actions; what they did was wrong. However, the response of the public to the murder was also wrong. Michael was just a regular guy but the public wanted to turn his death into a huge issue or attack. I honestly think that the only way that people will be able to move on from the past is when people realize that the color of a person's skin doesn't matter. I'm not saying that people should forget or be ashamed of their culture, not at all. I'm just saying that people should try to move on and not become offended so easily; the past is the past. This means that people should not look down upon people who have a different skin color or culture. However, this also means that people should not be held on a pedestal because of their skin color. A person's worth should not be determined by a person's skin color but by their actions, their character and thier merit. Only when people can view each other with a sense of colorblindness can the world finally move towards acceptance and justice.