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Letters: Teachable moment missed in removal of Confederate flag

ISSUE | BATTLE FLAG Opportunity missed What is it that keeps us, as a society, from examining ourselves? Are we so afraid of taking the time and doing the work to focus light on the injustices that have been part of our country's history?

State Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown, D-Philadelphia, looks at flags after taking the Confederate flag down from a display Tuesday night at the Pennsylvania Capitol East Wing Rotunda fountain area. The flag was returned to the display Wednesday and then ordered removed by Gov. Wolf.
State Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown, D-Philadelphia, looks at flags after taking the Confederate flag down from a display Tuesday night at the Pennsylvania Capitol East Wing Rotunda fountain area. The flag was returned to the display Wednesday and then ordered removed by Gov. Wolf.Read moreDan Gleiter/PennLive.com via AP
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ISSUE | BATTLE FLAG

Opportunity missed

What is it that keeps us, as a society, from examining ourselves? Are we so afraid of taking the time and doing the work to focus light on the injustices that have been part of our country's history?

Instead of Pennsylvania Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown (D., Phila.) taking down the Confederate flag from a display in the Capitol without initially registering her objection, or

Gov. Wolf stashing it as though it didn't exist, I wish they could have provided us with a teachable moment ("Confederate flag removed," Thursday). They could have helped us understand the context that enabled the Confederate flag to become the symbol it is to so many.

|Anne Hill, Gwynedd

Different perspectives

State Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown took it upon herself to remove a Confederate flag from a historical display in the Capitol because it represents "hatred, murder, and oppression." As a state representative, she is supposed to represent all of us and not allow her feelings to influence her actions. I can only imagine that she never considered that some of us might have different feelings about the flag.

Perhaps instead of forcing her feelings on others, she should devote her time to defending herself against the bribery charges she is facing.

|Mike Krakovitz, Drexel Hill