"Trust in forgiveness, not committees" : Letters to the Editor : Blogs : News-Record.com : Greensboro, North Carolina

Trust in forgiveness, not committees

The following is a Counterpoint column:

By Stuart Good

I lived in Greensboro at the time of the Klan/Nazi/Communist Workers' Party showdown, and we all knew at the time that our city was nothing more than a convenient meeting place for the combatants, and it really had next to nothing to do with the dynamics of our city. Blaming the citizens of Greensboro for that amateur firefight is rather like blaming the inhabitants of Gettysburg for the Civil War.

As for the lingering effects on our citizens, it is useful to remember another armed confrontation that took place in the general vicinity even longer ago. As with the Klan/Nazi/CWP armed brawl, these fighters represented opposite sides of the then-current political spectrum, were generally far away from home, and would probably have much rather been back there once the shooting started. No one arrived 26 years later, say 1807 or so, to search for repressed trauma buried in the souls of the residents of central Guilford County. The nascent community was not prodded to again divide itself along ancient fault lines of monarchial vs. republican rule and dig in heels for a second, verbal Battle of Guilford Courthouse.

Even absent such an effort, folks got over it. Flowing time smoothed differences and memories to the extent that while the town that grew up near the battlefield was named for the Continental general, one of its major avenues was named for his British opposite number.

This is not to suggest that the principles of the Klan/Nazi/CWP mayhem will ever enjoy such honor, but it does serve to remind us that yesterday's passions become today's history, not through the work of investigative committees, but rather as a result of a myriad of small and personal forgivenesses.

The surrender of armies and jury verdicts serve to effect closure in the public arena. We rely upon our individual lights for the rest.

The writer lives in Kernersville.

Posted by News & Record on May 10, 2005 3:00 AM | Permalink

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Trust in forgiveness, not committees

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