Posted on 07/23/2002 6:29:29 PM PDT by TexConfederate1861
CRESTVIEW, Fla. - A local NAACP official says the group is planning protests and economic sanctions against this Florida Panhandle city for refusing to haul down the Confederate battle flag.
It flies over a memorial to William "Uncle Bill" Lundy, Florida's last surviving Civil War veteran. He died in 1957.
Crestview's city council Monday unanimously reaffirmed a decision to keep the rebel banner flying. The council rejected a compromise offered by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to put the flag in a shadow box at the memorial, or take it down and present it to Lundy's family.
"If the city doesn't respect the feelings of some people, some people ought not to respect the feelings of the city," said local NAACP chapter president Sabu Williams.
Williams said he would seek national NAACP support for protests and avoidance of certain Crestview businesses although he insisted that would not constitute a boycott.
The banner was removed from South Carolina's statehouse dome two years ago, but the NAACP has continued a boycott there because it was moved to a nearby Confederate monument.
Flag opponents contend it is a symbol of slavery and racial hatred, while supporters say it is part of their Southern heritage.
"We believe the flag should be lowered in such a way that respects a veteran," Williams told the council in front of a packed meeting room.
Sam Hayes, the council's only black member, then delivered an impassioned speech to keep the banner flying.
Wearing his Army uniform, the veteran of three wars pulled out his tattered brown and tan Company A battle flag with two bullet holes and said it was comparable to the Confederate banner because both were used in combat.
"I am offended by what people perceive it represents," Hayes said. "We are fighting about the battle flag, not the Confederate flag."
The Confederacy's first official flag was the Stars and Bars, which looked similar to the U.S. flag but had three stripes instead of 13. That gave rise to unofficial use of the battle flag, or Southern Cross, to avoid confusion.
The Confederacy later replaced the Stars and Bars with the Stainless Banner, a white flag with the Southern Cross in an upper corner. During the final days of the Civil War, a red vertical stripe was added.
Racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan later used the battle flag, with its familiar X-crossed stripes, adding to the controversy.
Philip White, spokesman for the Sons of Confederate Veterans said he was pleased by Crestview's decision.
"This issue has come up a number of times and we feel we've got some closure," White said.
Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
for a free dixie,sw
IT ALREADY HAS! We have political leaders not standing for the PoA, not singing the Ntl Anthem, changing the state song of Maryland, and disrespecting Old Glory. Ironically, it was Southerners who asked conservatives for help in keeping their traditions safe. The Conservatives sold out. They made bad deals with the NAACP, SPLC and others to "deliver" the black vote. The pressure was to remove Confederate symbols, flags, monuments, memorials, and history. Our conservative leadership failed.
Now the socialist-revisionist camp is after other American symbols and traditions. Hate to say, "we told you so"....but d@mn if we didn't see this one coming!
However, for argument's sake, let us agree that any flag associated with slavery, treason, and sedition should be banned from being officially displayed by the federal and State governments of the United States.
When can we expect the official banning of "the Stars and Stripes"?
Doesn't this work both ways?
In other words, it is not even flying as a call to the townspeople to reaffirm their proud heritage. It is simply posted to honor one who fought under it. No fair minded person could possibly object to this. Anyone who would make an issue over paying proper respect to a distinguished deceased citizen is beneath contempt.
It is not my business what a small City in Florida does. But I can express my feelings on what the NAACP does by refusing to give them any more respect than they give others. If they cannot respect the feelings of Floridians who want to honor their own, then do they really deserve any respect themselves?
Now I am not going to be a hypocrite. I have denounced the NAACP as the Fabian Socialist organization that it is; a creature of Leftwing, "frothy" Whites, created for the express purpose of luring American Negroes into endless confrontation with American Caucasians. (See Creating Hate In America Today.) But I have treated their local representatives with civility, even though I do not agree with them or respect their organization. But in the future?
The Left becomes increasingly arrogant in their demands. In this, there is evidence that they smell victory over America and the American way of life. It is important that we make certain they never have such a victory.
William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site
I think you meant to type "republicans" in place of "conservatives". It was republican politicians who sold out, but they didn't make any deals to deliver any votes. They folded in the face of the NAACP because they're liberal pissants themselves. Any Southerner who belongs to the GOP is setting himself and his fellow conservatives up for a royal screwing.
This issue alone should have been enough to clue Southern conservatives in on what a gang of mewling little liberal cowards the GOP is. We need to withdraw all support from the GOP and form a conservative party before it's too late, if it isn't already.
for dixie,sw
free the south,sw
with this symbol at the beginning and end < >
Like this:
With respect, I don't think so......I think Kweisi Mfume is just using the Confederate Flag issue to get out the vote.....this is a Congressional election year, after all. The big story of the elections of the last six years has been the 16% uptick or so in the black vote. Which is fine, but Kweisi's using raw meat to do it -- and the practical consequence of his campaign is the suppression of other people's heritage, not to mention all the ill-will that he has chummed up.
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