Letter to the editor

01/18/2007 - Dear Editor,

I am not surprised that some white supremacists would want to make a statement on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by stealing the American flag that was flying half-mast in front of the High Country Fire House on Highway 46 and replace it with a Confederate flag. The Confederate flag has become a symbol of slavery and intolerance and is the antithesis of what Dr. King dedicated his life to. We’ll probably never know who tried to desecrate this day in our county because they prefer anonymity. These racists prefer to hide behind their sheets and meet in the dark to do their foul deeds. You won’t see these cowards come forward and say “We did it. This is who we are”.

  What makes this “prank” unacceptable to me is the disrespect it shows to those men and women in our Armed Forces who have sacrificed their lives to bring the American ideals of freedom and democracy to a people long suffering with intolerance and deadly hatreds. Roadside bombs don’t distinguish based on surname. Whether their skin is white, black or brown, their blood is the same color red and their coffins are draped with the same American flag. Whoever did this might have a yellow magnet on their SUV, but they don’t support our troops or the ideals of this nation.

  The life of Martin Luther King, Jr. is celebrated precisely because he carried the banner of equality high at a time when our nation was torn with intolerance. He believed that Americans were at their best when they strove to fulfill our highest aspirations of being a peaceful, prosperous and pluralistic nation. We as a nation have inherited a legacy of racism and intolerance but we have also inherited a mighty dream that all men are created equal and that a person should be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin.

  I am thankful that the white supremacists in our community who chose to tear down the American flag on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and replace it with a symbol of hatred are a cowardly few. Most of the folks who live in Gilpin understand the freedom of the hills and cherish our land and our liberties. To all those at the Sheriff’s Department and to the volunteers at High County Fire District who dealt with this desecration—my humble thanks.

  If you want to contribute two dollars to help build the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial in Washington D.C., you can mail contributions of all sizes to:
The Denver Foundation/MLK Fund
950 South Cherry St., Ste. 222
Denver, CO 80246

Contributions over $50 can be made online at www.denverfoundation.org.

Wes Eisenhart
Mid-Gilpin County, CO