First, thank you to the Patrick Henry students who recently wrote letters to the editor to Camden News. Your voices belong and are important. I encourage you all to continue leading the conversation.
Second, it’s too bad we can’t erase what another letter writer called the “atrocities of the past.” But fortunately we can make progress. The decision to no longer memorialize those who enslaved and murdered people doesn’t mean that history is erased. It means we understand the history, we actually recognize the actions as atrocious, and we end the celebration. This is exactly what the students said in their letters! Let’s listen to what they’ve learned instead of criticizing their engagement.
Ben Frank,
Lind Bohannon