[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 24, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E547-E548]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPOSING RACISM
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HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON
of mississippi
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, March 24, 1999
Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, in my continuing efforts to
document and expose racism in America, I submit the following articles
into the Congressional Record.
[From the Virginian-Pilot]
Confederate Group Battles for Its Flag
(By Linda McNatt)
In May 1997, two members of the Sons of Confederate
Veterans confronted Ku Klux Klansmen in front of the
Pensacola, Fla., judicial building.
Sworn to conduct themselves as Southern gentlemen, the SCV
members asked the hooded Klansmen to put down what they
believe is their Confederate battle flag.
``There were 20 of them, maybe,'' said Robert A. Young, who
belongs to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. ``This group of
fellas came over from Louisiana. They were dressed up like
ghosts. We didn't want the connection, and we told 'em so.''
The peaceful confrontation made national news. The Klansmen
didn't back down, but the SCV had made its point.
It wasn't the first time that the Sons of Confederate
Veterans have defended the bright red flag with its blue
cross and white stars.
And it's not likely to be the last. The flag, the SCV says,
symbolizes the bravery of their ancestors who followed it
through the smoke of battle.
But the same flag has been used by the Klan and other hate
groups. For some African Americans, the Confederate flag
represents terrorism, prejudice and hate.
That's why the Virginia General Assembly two weeks ago said
``no flag'' when it voted to allow the group, which has 6,000
Virginia members, to have a special state license plate.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans aren't happy. Members have
said they might try to re-introduce the flag image. Bills
have been changed before, they say, although they won't say
how they plan to do it.
Or--if the Senate fails to consider anything but the blank
plate with the name of the organization on it--the SCV may
take the issue to court.
They're ready for a gentlemanly battle, they say. The Sons
of Confederate Veterans was organized in 1896 as an offshoot
of the United Confederate Veterans. Today, the mission of the
group is to ``preserve the history and the legacy'' of the
``citizen soldiers'' who fought for the Confederacy in the
War Between the States, from 1861 to 1865.
Proof of kinship to a Confederate soldier is required. The
SCV allows blacks to join; in fact, they say, race has never
been a question on their membership application. And they do
claim black members, although no one at the national
headquarters--an antebellum mansion in Columbia, Tenn.--can
say how many of their 27,000 members worldwide are black.
Neither can Patrick J. Griffin III, SCV national commander
and chief, of Darnestown, Md.
``We do not have a block on our application that asks for
race,'' Griffin said. ``I've never seen anything in this
organization that questions race or religion. You either have
an honorable Confederate ancestor or you don't.''
The SCV, with 700 camps in 36 states, Europe and South
America, accepts members as young as 12.
``We're trying to preserve an accurate view of Southern
American history, to make sure the names of our ancestors are
not sullied,'' Griffin said.
The group dedicates itself to preservation, to marking
confederate soldiers' graves, to historical re-enactments. It
holds regular meetings to discuss the military and political
history of the Civil War. It publishes a bimonthly magazine,
and it hands out two scholarships and a medical research
grant each year.
Executive director Maitland Westbrook III said that the SCV
is not ``statistically oriented,'' so he can't say how many
African Americans have benefited from SCV scholarships.
The organization has five full-time employees at national
headquarters. None of them, currently, are black, Westbrook
said, although the SCV has employed blacks in the past.
The SCV also spends a lot of time defending its heritage--
including its symbol--the Confederate battle flag.
Collin Pulley Jr. of Courtland is national chief of
heritage defense. In the last several months, he's complained
about ``anti-Southern'' TV shows and objected to a rap CD
that depicts a burning Confederate flag on its cover.
____
Since Wal-Mart quit carrying the flags after some customers
complained, he's led a SCV campaign--unsuccessful so far--to
persuade the discount chain to re-stock small Confederate
flags his group uses on graves.
``It has been our position for the last two years not to
carry the Confederate flag because, here at Wal-Mart, we do
not stand for what that flag represents,'' said Marvin
Deshommes, a buyer at the Bentonville, Ark., headquarters.
What the flag represents, the SVC says, is heritage, not
hate. And the group is determined to reclaim its glory.
It succeeded in Maryland and, more recently, in North
Carolina. Both states, and several others, allow SCV members
to display the flag on license plates.
A federal judge ruled in Maryland in February 1997 that
``The Confederate battle flag on special Maryland license
plates is protected by the First Amendment and cannot be
banned.''
The SCV got a similar ruling in North Carolina last
December. There, the protest was less about the flag and more
about whether the organization was actually a ``civic
group.'' The SCV took it to court and won.
In Virginia, said Brag Bowling of Richmond, legislative
liaison for the SCV, ``We're exploring all options. We're
deeply disappointed they took the flag off the license plate.
We got nailed in the House. We want to see how it goes in the
Senate.''
It was likely the impassioned plea of Del. Jerrauld C.
Jones, D-Norfolk, that swayed the House. Jones said the flag,
often connected with hate and terrorism by many African
Americans, had reminded him throughout his life of fear,
anger and claims of racial supremacy.
The special license plate legislation passed, but without
the flag. SCV members vow they have never used the flag for
such purposes as Jones claimed.
But the flag is sometimes used as a symbol of ``oppression,
violence and brutality,'' said Janis V. Sanchez, professor of
psychology at Old Dominion University.
``The argument is that the flag was appropriated by the
KKK,'' Sanchez said. ``But that doesn't change the fact that
it is associated with the Klan and with slavery. The Civil
War was about slavery, and that's what the Confederate flag
stands for. It has been used by many people to send a signal
to African Americans.
``I know the Sons of Confederate Veterans are saying that
it represents their heritage, but they cannot separate the
meanings.''
The SCV claims that the Civil War wasn't about slavery;
rather, it was about states' rights. More than 95 percent of
the soldiers who fought for the South weren't even slave
owners, they maintain.
More like 85 percent, said Dr. Harold D. Wilson, an ODU
history professor.
At the time of the Civil War, there were 9 million people
in the Southern states, Wilson said; 4 million of those were
slaves. Of the remaining 5 million, 330,000--mostly white
males--were slave owners. Wilson said he believes about 85
percent of the soldiers didn't own slaves.
Some blacks, he pointed out, did serve with the South. ``In
the North, blacks participated fully in the war; in the
South, they were mostly servants or laborers,'' Wilson said.
``There were great debates over whether blacks should fight
for the Confederacy, and they were conducted mostly in a very
private, sensitive manner.''
What caused the Civil War? ``In the upper Southern states,
it probably was states' rights,'' Wilson said. ``In the lower
South, with its large plantations, it was more about slavery.
``What in the world does the battle flag represent? It was
the military flag of the Confederacy. It represented the
might of the Confederate government. To that part of the
Confederacy where there were few slave owners, it may have
represented something entirely different.''
And that part of the Confederacy may well represent
Virginia, Wilson admitted. The Confederate battle flag was
first used by the Army of Northern Virginia, where there were
few large slave owners compared to the deep South.
Should the Sons of Confederate Veterans be allowed to use
the flag on its license plate?
The group has an ally it likely doesn't even know about.
The Rev. Jeff Berry, national imperial wizard of the Ku Klux
Klan, said he believes it is their right.
[[Page E548]]
Like the SCV, the Klan uses the flag to represent
``heritage, not hate,'' said Berry, whose group was started
by Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Unlike the SCV, non-whites are not allowed in the Klan. The
two groups have no connection, Berry said. But the Klan,
which says it believes first in the U.S. Constitution, says
the SCV ought to be able to display the Confederate flag.
``If it isn't OK to fly the Confederate flag in the U.S.,
why is it OK for blacks to fly the African flag?'' Berry
said. ``We would defend the right of the SCV to fly its flag.
Nobody should be able to take that right away.''
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