An Open Letter & Open Report



From: HK Edgerton (hk.edgerton@gmail.com)
Date: Wed, Feb 22, 2017
Subject: An Open Letter & Open Report
To: siegels1 (siegels1@mindspring.com)

Dear Ms. Lunelle,

There comes a time that one must stand back in the heat of battle, and look not only at the forces you face, but also look in the mirror. And, perhaps after more than
two decades of battling against the wrongs done to my homeland, the Southland of America, I must take that look just as the great and Honorable General Robert E. Lee did
when he sat down at Appomattox Courthouse looking Grant in the eye with his message; You did not beat us, but the carnage must stop.

There is a new carnage in the South that makes the adventures of Isis in the Middle East look like a picnic with the Pope. I have fought what I have perceived to be
injustice to God’s children most of my life, usually at large personal expense, both physically and fiscally.

Yet the greatest injustice of all is that which the first woman Governor of South Carolina laid upon the Southern people when she served up that which General Lee did
not surrender; the honor of those husbands, sons and family members both freed and indentured who stood against an illegal horde that had orders to eliminate their total
existence from the face of the earth.

I no longer believe that I have what it takes to be on that battlefield as I watch White folk guilt take hold of the Southern people as they strive to bring what they
perceive to be justice to those of the African people as their effort only pushes us back into the hole of the same kind of injustice of the first reconstruction when we
were duped against them.

Far too many Africans have moved away from the sacred vow made by the Black societies of the past not to fall into the same trap set by those who come to our homeland
to continue the work by the likes of Thaddeus Stevens to divide and separate us from our only true friend. And in the South, when a man’s word is no longer his bond, I
no longer want to fight with, or for, him. The pledge made on December 13, 1874 now has no meaning, and there is no truthful accord or earnest desire to cultivate peace,
harmony or industry among races following the path set forth by Nikki Haley. The insane act committed by Dylan Roof should be a test of our resolve to hang in there together.

If I could leave but one message to the African people of the South, it would be analogous of that of General Lee’s body servant, the Honorable Rev. Mack Lee, and
the Honorable Thomas Swan, President of the Pole Bearers Association; “Put your trust in the Southern White and Black men who protect the name of those who stand against
our family of the past.” May God bless you!

Your brother,

HK Edgerton

A Proud Son of the Honorable Rev. Roland Rogers & Annabelle Edgerton