This letter is being written in response to the article published in The Gazette on Oct. 20, “Confronting a hard past.” This alluded to my feeling about destroying the past. All nationalities living in the United States have had something in their history that they would like to believe didn’t happen, but those things did happen.

From those happenings, we learned. From these mistakes, we must work hard not to repeat them. As a nation, these events have made us a stronger nation.

America was started by people trying to get away from persecution for their religious beliefs. The African Americans suffered through slavery; the Native Americans suffered because of greed, and many others are suffering because of the color of their skin or their beliefs.

Don’t erase the past. The tearing down of monuments doesn’t change history. Deleting facts from books does not change history but it may help us know what happened to our forefathers.

Celebrate the past and learn from the mistakes. The markers mentioned noting the lynching that occurred during the abolition of slavery can be a painful way to let younger generations know why Americans have a strong heritage. Persecution of the Jews was horrible but it occurred. The war between the North and South was not a pleasant event but it happened. Many races fought for the freedom that is enjoyed today. Don’t go backwards and erase the heritages that built America.

Let us remember why the United States was formed. It was formed under one God, one nation and one human race.

Janice Allen, Tifton