To the editor:

I hope you find this interesting.

The horrific act of a lone-wolf hater, gunning down nine devout Christian human beings, fills us with grief. That occured in a church, whose main purpose is to spread the love and hope of Eternal Redemption, is also a contradiction that is hard for us to accept.

But what did the good people of Charleston do? They united in a spirit of love.

It was majestic, it was profound, and by its action, it speaks volumes about America and its unifying character, too often lost in the world of political correctness.

But, though the PC element was unable to turn the good people of Charleston into a sea of racial hatred, they chose the next thing: the removal of the Confederate Battle Flag from state grounds. But, instead of letting the flag issue to divide, Gov. Nikki Haley agreed that it should be taken down and led the effort to do so. Score another point for the unifiers; subtract one from the PC crowd.

And so we have come full circle in this wonderful country. That some may choose to remember those brave souls who fought for what they perceived was right, lost, and in Lincoln’s words “brought forth a new nation” should be proud, not reviled. So put away the Rebel Flag, but respect those who fought for what they believed was a righteous cause. Talk about your loyal Americans, a little known fact of history is that ever since the War Between the States, more volunteers have risen to fight more wars to defend our freedom from the South than those from any other region. Let us repeat: the 11 states of the Confederacy did, by their military support, more to defend our country than those from any other region of this reunited land. Score again for the unifiers.

Moving now to paper money: From Washington comes the latest federal government blunderbuss decision: remove Alexander Hamilton from our $10 bill, and replace his visage with a yet to be named woman. Removing Hamilton? Why that notable was one of the key members of the infant country. It was he who put the colonies on a solid financial footing, and was one of the four most influential “fathers” of our nation. It is commonly agreed among historians that it was he, together with Washington, Jay, and Madison, that fashioned this great land, making it, truly, the United States of America. Remove Hamilton? What a blatant disparagement of our national heritage. Disgraceful!

If it is time for removal of a face from our paper bills, I would suggest the removal of Andrew Jackson from the $20 bill. He was one of our least admired presidents. With apologies to his descendants, Jackson was a political hack of the worst order, owner of slaves and purveyor of special interests. His face could easily be forgotten. He did more to demean the office of Chief Executive than most. He should go.

Jim Beales

Laurinburg