Dear Editor,
A truly progressive country or community fears not the past, but fears not learning from it.
There have been many oppressive events throughout history – both local and abroad – that are in our collective pasts.
The very reason why those are in the past and not what we live under currently is that our communities have progressed.
We have museums, history classes, and commemorate Remembrance Day not to glorify what has been past practice, but to memorialize in order to remember and learn from past wrongdoings.
Therefore, to erase history by tearing down statues, destroying or hiding flags is counterproductive to a progressive society.
The flag in question, located in a history class, is totally appropriate in this context.
We need to be living in the present, looking towards a brighter future, and not perseverating on the past; to do so keeps us stuck in that past with no path forward.
Arlene Laing, Walnut Grove