It is with great sadness that I watch the rising tide of racism which seeks to flood and erode the very foundations of our country. Black Lives Matter has now been answered by White Lives Matter and, I guess, soon to be followed by Brown Lives Matter.

Reality is ALL LIVES MATTER.

On August 15th, in an unsigned editorial, the Oxford Eagle called for our elected officials to disenfranchise Mississippi voters and change our flag without a public vote despite the fact that it was turned over to the voters in the past.

Harvard University celebrated its “first commencement for black graduate students” this past June. That doesn’t celebrate diversity: it is racist.

Confederate statues are being taken down legally and illegally because some folks are offended.

Let’s face it, if we need to rewrite history we are in big trouble. It means we are joining the ranks of the Nazis, Bolsheviks, Taliban and the like, all of whom destroyed their historical monuments and tried to rewrite history.

If antebellum moments offend you, then antebellum buildings, built in part or in toto with slave labor, should enrage you. If we need to remove all Confederate statues, then every building in the country built with slave labor needs to be razed. Every state or city or street or building with the name of Washington or Jefferson (fill in the blank) needs to be renamed. All, of course, in the name of racial diversity.

On the other hand, we could pursue a path that made our country great and stop bickering and fighting. We could work for tomorrow instead of wallowing in yesterday’s (or the last century’s) injustices, but that won’t make the hate mongers happy in the least.

Be it against black or black against white, racism is racism and intolerable.

Philip Loria

Oxford