20200815 WRITING - DAY 9

Copied from Day 8, and edited today:

My STONE MOUNTAIN Tee Shirt

Everyone I know has a collection tee-shirts.  I must have a hundred of them, all sorts and colors, stored, stacked, stuffed and stashed in various places around my bedroom.  The nice ones get a hanger in my closet.  The less-frequently-worn ones get folded and stored in a dresser drawer.  And the worn out ones occupy a shelf near my gym stuff.  And this is where my black STONE MOUNTAIN tee shirt has been for the last several years.

It was given to me quite a while ago by my friend Ed.  It's jet black, with a white image of 3 men on horseback, and in large white letters below GEORGIA'S STONE MOUNTAIN.  Ed had visited Atlanta on business, and had gone to see the Stone Mountain monument which has carvings of 3 confederate generals on horseback. He brought me back the tee shirt as a "trip gift."

Until the other day, I had never bothered to ask myself or anyone about STONE MOUNTAIN.  I had not realized that it was a monument to three confederates, who were enemies of the Union. They supported slavery, and they fought against freedom and equality for black Americans.  But I'm ashamed to say, I unwittingly wore my black tee shirt now and then.

Today, we Americans are considering whether we should keep public emblems and monuments honoring confederate soldiers and leaders.  Mississippi decided recently to remove the confederate part of their State flag.  This, after more than 150 years since the South lost the Civil War!  And yet today, some STILL want to keep the flag, and the monuments.

My black tee shirt was a symbol - and a monument that I'd been wearing for more than 25 years, unknowingly advertising racism and inequality.  I'm sure some saw me in it and wondered if I supported the confederacy.

But I wore it only because it was part of my tee-shirt collection.  When it began showing signs of age, I moved it to my gym shirt stack.  If people at the gym noticed it, they never said anything.

I cycle all my clothes:  I want them to wear out evenly.  So, I launder and fold my gym clothes, and put them at the bottom of the stack.

A few days ago, my black and white GEORGIA'S STONE MOUNTAIN tee shirt surfaced.  I quickly grabbed it and a pair of scissors, and I cut the image of Lee, Davis and Stonewall right through their faces.

Then I rolled them up into a ball and tossed them into my trash can.  Where they belong.  That felt good - and right.