Editor's Note: These featured comments are the most thoughtful or eloquently stated comments from our Facebook page and crestviewbulletin.com and do not necessarily reflect the newspaper management's views.
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Much debate on social media still centers on the Confederate battle flag fluttering on East First Avenue in Crestview. Here are some of our readers' comments:
Represent heritage, lose hate
… Apparently, folks in your community are feeling the need to drive through town with battle flags on their trucks and yell racial slurs out the window at people.
Y'all ain't right.
… Rep the heritage and lose the hate. If it's about heritage (and it is for me) divorce yourself from racists. Condemn them.
Loree Arrington
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Flag is a history lesson
It's part of history, people. If we don't learn from our past, we can't change the future.
Pushing it away, hiding from it, sticking your head in the sand and pretending it never happened does not make it go away. That's how all the rumors get started in the first place.
If people don't know the truth about history, then we are doomed to repeat it.
Teach the next generation about where it came from, why it was created, and why we moved on will accomplish more than if we hide it and create drama and strife between races.
Dawn Bayles Wamsley
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Flag resurrection 'a step backward'
A step backward and loss for the South again as we continue to honor a Confederate soldier with a questionable past (facts that justified the memorial), who fought for the state's right to continue to keep African Americans enslaved.
So sad, and the very same reason why there are still many deep-rooted African American haters in the Southern states.
If the rest of the world can acknowledge that maybe it's time to right the wrongs of the Civil War and Confederate soldiers, why can't you?
LaDonte McQueen
Flag represents failure
The confederacy lost. The confederate flag is essentially the "championship" T-shirts that go overseas.
William Echevarria
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Confederacy and Nazi parallels
It's just a flag right? By that logic, if Germans wanted to celebrate their heritage, you should be okay with it; otherwise, that's hypocritical, no? The parallels are uncanny.
Cody Lawler
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Which issue is more important?
Just out of curiosity, what is more important to the people of Crestview: flying this flag or lowering property taxes?
If you had to choose council members based on those two issues, would you pick council members who are likely to increase property taxes and support flying the (Confederate battle flag) or those council members who are likely to take down the CBF and vote to lower property taxes?
John Q. Baker
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Changing topics…
The (tentative) millage rate went up! Anyone catch that part? Fort Walton beach has a SWAT team of their own but yet (the Crestview Police Department) sent the … SWAT team and SWAT trucks out to Fort Walton Beach to handle a call with one shooter in his house.
Why, since our town is so broke and the CPD equipment is so old, are we sending all equipment 30 minutes away?
Kyle Able
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Let's disagree without labeling
Opposing opinions seem to be too easily blamed on racism and hatred. In this day and time, we ought to be able to disagree on issues and not automatically (be) deemed a racist.
Shirl Griffin Long
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Readers who learned about two Crestview teenagers charged with a rash of burglaries, and children staying out all night raised these concerns.
No morals
Morals in this country have gone away. People feel entitled to things that aren't theirs and for some reason feel they have a right to take them.
Lisa Hare Nivison
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Does Crestview have a curfew?
"Nothing good happens after midnight" was the rule for my teenagers. I can't imagine young children out that late without adult supervision. Does Crestview have a curfew?
Barbara Gordon
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Street walking is 'awful'
I live down Stillwell (Boulevard) and there (are) two teenage girls that walk the street between midnight and 4 a.m. on a regular basis. They can't be any older than 14 or 15. It's awful.
Vickie Smith
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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: HUBBUB: Which issue is more important, does Crestview have a curfew?