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Why has 'Dixie' become a dirty word?
Southern culture has been around for longer than a century and a half and has been glorified in such classics as "Gone with the Wind." Why now, after all this time, have references to the Old South become offensive? And why do people want to focus on the injustices of the past rather than look forward to a promising future?
More: Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede gets name change, now called Stampede
With Dolly Parton’s removal of "Dixie" from her Dixie Stampede show, the South is clearly being systematically persecuted by a misguided movement to be politically correct. If there's such a major concern to avoid being offensive to some, what about the feelings of millions of Southerners who are offended by the erasing of our history? Do our feelings not matter? Where will it all end, with the banning of "Gone with the Wind"?
The movement to destroy our culture and dishonor our ancestors has accomplished nothing other than to fuel a resentment that wasn't there 10 years ago. How is removing Confederate monuments benefiting our society as a whole? Ulysses S. Grant freed the slaves, then slaughtered the American Indians. We all have dark places in our historical past to be ashamed of, but we'll never move forward if we keep focusing on the past.
It's time to stop this nonsense. Let's look forward, not backward. Leave history alone and focus on what we can learn from the past to help make a brighter future for us all.
Michael Garrett, Pinson, Ala.
Thanks given for help after hit-and-run
Recently I was stopped at a traffic light on Broadway when a large pickup truck struck the side of my car. The driver of the truck chose to hit and run.
However, this letter is not about him. It is about the people who interrupted their day to help me. Two private citizens, David Key and Tyler Chopick, witnessed the crash. One got the tag number of the truck. One called 911 because I was shaking too badly to complete the call. Two employees of AMR ambulance service arrived and made sure I was OK.
Key was on his way to deliver Christmas boxes for his church; Chopick recently relocated to Knoxville after losing everything to a Florida hurricane. They took time to stay with me until Knoxville Police Department Officer Porter arrived, and gave him their eyewitness accounts of the incident. Porter was the calm, kind professional we all hope for when we need help.
Key, Chopick, Porter and the AMR personnel all exemplified the best of our society. Everyday citizens stepped up to help a stranger. Professionals responded with patient kindness. It makes me proud of Knoxville to have such wonderful people living here.
Catherine Moirai, Knoxville