The mayor did the right thing when he decided not to sign the proclamation for Confederate History Month. He is there to serve all the people of Suffolk and not just a certain segment of the city that wants special treatment.

I did a little research and called some of the surrounding cities — Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth and Chesapeake. None of them celebrate Confederate History Month, so why should we? To me, this speaks volumes about Suffolk and the people that support this.

Using “our ancestors,” “heritage,” and other ploys to get a proclamation signed will not change the fact that the Confederacy and all it stood for was wrong then and it is still wrong in 2006.

When I think of the word, “Confederate,” the first thing that comes to mind is racism, slavery and hatred of black people. When I see a “Rebel flag” it says, “Blacks not welcomed, so don’t sit there and try to pretend that this is a harmless celebration of your heritage. These are just code words for keeping racism alive and well in this city.

In response to Andy Prutsok, publisher, and his article, “Who’s really sanitizing our history?” I agree that history should not be altered, but while white history is being sanitized, our history was deleted.

Georgiette Jones Rodriguez

Suffolk