Dear editor,

Monday is Robert E. Lee Holiday (Section 1-3-8 Alabama Code).

Republican Gov. Robert Bentley’s disgraceful removal of the Confederate flags from the Confederate Veterans’ Memorial is the same, as if, Bentley removed the U.S. flag from a U.S. Veterans’ Memorial.

Is Lee’s holiday next on Bentley’s purge list? General Lee himself held the Confederate Battle Flag high at the Battle of Saylers Creek and rallied his soldiers, as the red folds of bunting waved about him.

Two out of three Alabamians can trace their bloodline to a Confederate veteran, yet Republican Congresswoman Martha Roby, declared: “Flying the Confederate Battle Flag at our State Capitol is not appropriate, it was used as a symbol of division and bitterness.” (Montgomery Advertiser 6-24-15).

Even top Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump stated: “I would take the Confederate Battle Flag down, Yes.” (CBS News 6-23-15).

Are these Republicans so uneducated or just two-faced hypocrites? The Klan carried the U.S. Flag much more often than the Confederate Flag (see photos online of 50,000 Klansmen carrying thousands of U.S. Flags, but no Confederate Flags, in Washington D.C., August 8, 1925).

Do the Bentleys, Robys and Trumps also want the U.S. flag removed, because it was the Klan’s favorite flag?

By defending Lee’s flag in the 2010 election, Republican Kay Ivey jumped from 20 points behind to defeat incumbent Democrat Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom, when he bragged about removing the Confederate Flag from Alabama’s Capitol (Huntsville Times 10-23-10).

Republicans have now turned on the pro-Confederates who elected them.

Roger K. Broxton,

President

Confederate Heritage Fund