5 Things Ex-Ga. Gov. Roy Barnes About Race, Confederate Monuments

MARIETTA, GA -- The Old South's Confederate past has been in the headlines of late as different cities and municipalities in Georgia and other areas under the Mason-Dixon line are grappling anew with imagery and monuments that hark back to a different time in the nation. A number of Georgia's elder statesmen have come forward with food for thought in recent days, including former Gov. Roy Barnes.

Barnes, who owns a law firm in Marietta, recently penned a passionate letter, opining on what to do about the South's past and how to properly honor and acknowledge it -- and just as important -- if all of it needs to be honored. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

Change Name Of Confederate Avenue In Atlanta, Says Ex-Gov Roy Barnes

Here are five things Barnes brought on in his letter on race relations, the Confederacy and all that came with it.

1."Our national leader failed miserably in his responsibility to rise to the occasion and articulate the premise ingrained in our national ethos that all men are in fact created equal. He did not appeal to the better side of us."

2. "Slavery was wrong and will always be wrong. It was not benevolent and slaves were not extended members of the family. Slavery was a cruel, violent and demeaning institution which is our national shame."

3. "Symbols of the Confederacy should never be the symbol of the state."

4. "The carvings of Lee, Davis and Jackson shouldn’t be blown off the side of Stone Mountain, but there should be a telling of the story in truthful terms and not the mythical terms of 'Gone With The Wind'."

5. "Confederate Avenue in Atlanta running in front of the State Patrol in my mind should be changed. It sends the wrong message that the police power of the state is located on a street associated with slavery and

suppression."

BONUS:

6. "Confederate memorials should be a teaching point on how good intentioned people can become so blind in their views that blood is shed. The memorials should not all be destroyed or taken down, but the full story should be told."

Barnes' views come as Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is set to weigh upcoming recommendations on whether the city's many streets and markers commemorating the Confederate cause should be renamed.

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Image via Alex Wong / Staff / Getty Images News