Recent editorials from Georgia newspapers:
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March 25
Savannah Morning News on a resolution to recognize Confederate History Month:
Creating Confederate History Month, as some lawmakers propose, would be fine with us, but only if it teaches reality instead of myth.
Otherwise, Savannah’s Rep. Jesse Petrea and the bill’s other sponsors should be ashamed of themselves for trying to perpetuate a distorted view of history with no care for the ignorance they spread or the pain they cause millions of Georgians who wish the Confederacy would die, once and for all, or at least not be glorified.
If a Confederate History Month taught the full story, it surely would include the principles underlying the creation of the Confederate States of America.
Despite the deniers who claim slavery wasn’t the primary issue, it was a founding principle as various documents and speeches confirm.
The Confederacy’s “cornerstone rests upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man. Slavery - subordination to the superior race - is his natural and normal condition,” the newly-named vice president of the Confederacy, Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, explained in an 1861 speech in Savannah.
What about Georgia’s “Declaration of the Causes of Secession”?
That’s a lengthy discourse of complaints, mostly related to the North’s attempts to curtail slavery. When the document gets around to a simple list of reasons, the first is this: Northern “rulers. have outlawed $3,000,000,000 of our property,” meaning slaves.
However abhorrent the ideas of slavery and white supremacy are, you might forgive Mr. Stephens for expressing a belief common among whites at the time, and you could recognize that enslaved people were considered legal property back then.
What you can’t do, if you accurately teach Confederate history, is say that slavery and the threat of its abolition didn’t prompt the creation of the CSA.
It’s affirmed in the “Declaration of the Immediate Causes and Justifications Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina,” the first to leave the Union and the first to attack a federal fort.
To be sure, many of the brave Georgians who fought for the Confederacy did so not to preserve slavery but to defend the dignity of the South against an arrogant North.
Most of the CSA’s soldiers owned no slaves, and many slave owners found ways to sit out the war and let others fight for them. Tragically, thousands of young men lost their lives or their limbs or died of starvation or disease.
President Abraham Lincoln himself was conflicted on the subject of abolition when he was elected in 1860. He abhorred slavery and wanted to limit its spread, but he saw no way to abolish it. Students of Confederate history could consider why, then, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation?
Plenty has been said of late in popular culture about the cruelties of slavery. Still, how can you study Confederate history without learning about the realities of the institution that was the cornerstone of the CSA?
Using virtual reality, schools could recreate conditions that slaves endured while working in, and dying in, the rice plantations and cotton fields of Georgia. Recommended reading would include, “Journal of a residence on a Georgian Plantation: 1838 - 1839,” by Briton Fanny Kemble, married to Georgia’s largest slaveholder.
There’s so much material to study and historic sites to see during Confederate History Month, if done right.
What about those Southerners, black and white, who tried to organize resistance? What about those counties that tried to secede from Georgia so they could remain in the Union?
Tell those stories, too.
Unfortunately, the bill proposing such a month doesn’t seem to cover much.
It says southerners formed the CSA and fought the Civil War “for states’ rights, individual freedom, and local governmental control, which they believed to be right and just.”
It goes on to pay tribute to the “more than 90,000 brave men and women who served the Confederate States of America.”
Nowhere in the bill will you find the “s’’ word. The aforementioned “individual freedom” pertained to white people only.
If we are to honor the valor, the bravery, the sacrifices of the Confederates, we must also acknowledge the cruelty, the degradation, the inhumanity of the institution which was the Confederacy’s founding principle.
Unless we tell it all, we’d be honoring a fairy tale, not history. We’d be dishonoring the millions of Georgians who were kidnapped and sold into slavery or who descended from those who were.
They, too, are citizens of our state and are due the same respect as those who descended from the soldiers and generals of the CSA.
Online
https://savannahnow.com
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March 26
The Tifton Gazette on taking precautions during flu season:
Cold, flu, bronchitis and other viruses have affected a number of Georgians this winter.
We only have to look to our neighbors in Moultrie to see how bad it can be.
Earlier this week, Colquitt County School System decided to close all schools for the second half of the week.
They did this in response to multiple cases of illness, especially influenza.
With a mild winter behind us and reaching into the 70s or 80s most days, it’s easy to ignore and forget that we’re in the middle of flu season.
The key to preventing is precaution, and in that spirit we want to share some tips from University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and Extension Agent Keishon Thomas:
. Wash your hands. Most of us wash our hands, just not properly. Hands should be washed for 20 seconds with warm soap and water to effectively clean them.
. Sanitizer is not a replacement for hand-washing. Sanitizer can be used in the event that soap and water are not available, but soap and water are always the best choice for hand-washing.
. There are different levels of clean. Cleaning is the process of removing physical dirt. It does not remove germs, mold or other harmful bacteria that make us ill. Cleaning is generally done with soap or detergent and water. It is also the lowest level of clean. When someone has been ill in your home, you may want a higher level of clean.
. Sanitizing is the process of decreasing germs to levels at which illness does not occur. This process often involves the use of a sanitizing solution. A bleach-and-water solution is a common way to achieve this level of clean. With bleach, remember that less is best.
. Traditionally, bleach is overused. To make a sanitizing solution, the Environmental Protection Agency recommends 1 teaspoon of bleach to 1 quart of water. To “go green,” you can also use vinegar or hydrogen peroxide to sanitize. The EPA suggests using half a cup of either hydrogen peroxide or vinegar in a spray bottle.
. To sanitize surfaces effectively, remember to clean the surface first, then apply the sanitizing solution. This may seem like a small step, but to get rid of bacteria and other pathogens that could potentially make us ill, it is essential.
. Disinfecting is the third and highest level of clean. Disinfecting properly, whether you use wipes, bleach-and-water solution or spray, is critical. According to the EPA, “To achieve the desired level of disinfection, the chemical in question must be applied at a certain concentration for a specified amount of time.”
. Remember, disinfecting is a two-step process. First, clean the surface. Second, allow the disinfectant dwell time, or the amount of time that a surface must be in contact with the disinfectant solution in order to kill harmful bacteria. In other words, spray or wipe the disinfectant solution onto a clean surface and allow it to sit. If using a chemical disinfectant, the instructions for dwell time should be on the package. Don’t forget to clean doorknobs, handles, light fixtures, tablet cases, keyboards and cellphones.
Online:
https://www.tiftongazette.com
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March 28
The Brunswick News on a manatee warning around the Golden Isles this spring and summer:
Warming weather and longer days mean more people on the water in boats around the Golden Isles.
With that means more chance for interaction with wildlife like manatees. Sadly, too often, the interaction humans have with the big, slow-moving marine mammals is between boat and animal, meaning the animals come out on the losing end.
Manatees move up from Florida in the warmer months, when the water temperature gets to around 68 degrees or warmer. They enter our estuary looking for underwater plant life to eat, so places like docks, bridges or any other underwater structure make for prime feeding territory.
“A quarter to a third of the animals we find dead here died from watercraft collision,” state Department of Natural Resources biologist Clay George told The News.
The number of manatees that live locally over the spring and summer has been growing. After the second warmest winter on record, water temperatures are likely to present a pretty nice underwater climate for the so-called sea cows this summer.
Our murky water locally makes things tougher for both humans and manatees in attempts to avoid collisions. Most boaters will simply not be able to see a manatee up ahead under the water.
For the safety of both humans and manatees, we urge boaters this spring and summer to keep a keen eye out for the signs of a manatee. If you see circular ripples of water coming from below, slow down, go around them. When passing underwater structures like docks, slow down and be alert - manatees could be feeding and are not likely to get out of the way quickly.
The diversity of wildlife in the Golden Isles is wide. We are blessed to have an area teeming with so much life. Few places on earth offer such a unique mix of flora and fauna. An easy way to help preserve that environment, or at least part of it, is to simply slow down and pay attention when piloting a boat. Know where potential hazards might be and take care to adjust habits to avoid problems.
With that said, marine mammals like manatees will still get hit and injured. If you see an injured marine mammal of any kind, let George and the folks at the DNR know about it by calling 1-800-2-SAVE-ME, or 1-800-272-8363.
Online:
https://goldenisles.news
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