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It should have been changed because it was flown in 1956 to say F$$$ off to the Civil Rights movement

The Atlanta Journal did an investigation on this and could find no proof that this is the case.

Why would you tell a big lie like that?

There is no Atlanta Journal, there is the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. And THAT paper has suggested repeatedly that the flag was imposed in 1956 to say "F$$$ off to the Civil Rights movement."

In fact, this was in the AJC on 3/26/03:

1956 flag flew to defy desegregation

Email Tucker

RECENT COLUMNS

The 1956 Georgia General Assembly was a House afire -- and a Senate, too -- with anger over federal orders to desegregate public schools. The Legislature charged to the defense of white supremacy with a fusillade of resolutions, proclamations and laws designed to keep black Georgians in their place.

That year, Georgia legislators rebuked the FBI and the U.S. attorney general for intervening in a Cobb County case in which a black man was accused of raping a white woman; they declared the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education null and void; they required segregated waiting rooms in train stations and bus depots; they required the State Patrol and the GBI to enforce segregation laws; they commended an Ohio federal judge for "his determination to ignore the absurd directives" ordering desegregation; they opposed the Federal Aid for Education Bill; and they set up the All-South Centennial Committee for the centennial celebration of the Civil War.

Oh, yeah. They also changed the Georgia state flag to feature the St. Andrew's cross and stars, "such remainder being popularly known as The Battle Flag of the Confederacy," according to the act passed by the Legislature.

As Gov. Sonny Perdue drags out the debate over his proposed referendum, he should bear in mind that the claims of "Southern heritage" held aloft by the flaggers don't hold up to historical analysis. A look back at the segregationist agenda of the 1956 General Assembly helps to explain why so many Georgians, especially black Georgians, view the 1956 flag with hostility and suspicion.

The anti-integration fervor that fueled the Georgia Legislature through the 1950s has been meticulously documented by State Court of Appeals Judge Alan Blackburn in his master's thesis, "Brown v. Board of Education: A Southern Response."

". . . [The 1956 flag's] defenders contend it was intended solely to honor the Southern soldiers who fought in the Civil War and arose out of the 'all-South Centennial Committee' activities. [But] the 'committee' . . . which [was to] promote the centennial celebration of the Civil War, wasn't approved until March 9, 1956, while the 1956 flag had already been approved by the Georgia Legislature on February 13, 1956," Blackburn noted.

Besides, the pre-1956 flag honored "Southern heritage" as much as any banner could; it closely resembled the first national flag of the Confederacy. (According to the late Denmark Groover, an influential former legislator, the United Daughters of the Confederacy opposed the 1956 flag change for that reason.)

But the all-white Georgia Legislature chose the St. Andrew's cross with stars for a clear and compelling reason: It was the in-your-face banner adopted by the scowling, hate-filled face of Southern resistance as it burned crosses, beat civil rights protesters and threatened black schoolchildren. The 1956 flag had little to do with the Civil War, but much to do with the war against civil rights.

Two years ago, at age 78, Groover made a courageous appearance before the General Assembly to urge its members to put to rest this "most divisive issue on the political spectrum." He reminded legislators that he had been instrumental in the passage of the 1956 flag, since he was floor leader to then-Gov. Marvin Griffin, who had vowed to defend segregation.

"I presented the matter to the House," Groover recalled, "and . . . probably used some rhetoric indicating that the new flag was to symbolize our defiance of the action of the federal judiciary on matters involving race." It was that rhetoric -- "This will show that we in Georgia intend to uphold what we stood for, will stand for and will fight for," Groover said at the time -- that overcame opposition from the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

And that fiery defiance of desegregation is the "heritage" embodied in the 1956 flag."

[end]

Why would you tell a big lie like that?

Walt

Why would you tell a big lie like that?

If its a lie, your question should be addressed to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Not me. As follows.

Atlanta Journal Constitution - July 7, 1992

Q&A section of the AJC on 7/5/92.

John C. Hall, Jr., of Atlanta, asked:

The media has said the Georgia flag was changed by a "defiant Legislature" reacting to Supreme Court desegregation rulings. Was this the stated reason the change was made?

Q&A answered:

There is little written record of the 1956 Legislature and no audio record. News stories about the change were few. In none of our research did we find any record of a stated connection made between changing the flag and opposition to desegregation rulings. Both senators who introduced the bill, Willis Neal Hardin and Jefferson Lee Davis, are deceased. We contacted Judge John Sammons Bell, a retired chief judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals, who was head of the state Democratic party in 1956. He originally suggested the change to the senators and actually designed the flag. He said, "Introduction of the bill was for one reason and one reason only: to create a living memorial to our great heritage and the brave people involved. And that is the truth. I assure you that the three of us honored and loved that flag too much to denigrate it in the way that has been charged. The great interest in the Civil War Centennial at the time is what obviously boosted its passage." The approaching Civil War Centennial was being planned then on a nationwide basis. A centennial committee was formed. President Dwight Eisenhower issued a proclamation, and a series of postage stamps commemorating the war was issued.