Tag: Sons of Confederate Veterans
This past week Mattie Rice, who was a descendant of Weary Clyburn passed away. Over the past few year I wrote extensively about the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ and United Daughters of the Confederacy’s efforts to distort the history of Clyburn.
Last week I shared the news that the iconic image of Andrew and Silas Chandler had been donated to the Library of Congress. Over the weekend The Washington Post picked up the story. The title of the article makes it perfectly clear that the image does not show two men going off to war voluntarily. What it depicts is one of the many horrors of slavery.
The title of the Post article is a clear victory over the self-serving agendas of certain heritage groups such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans and United Daughters of the Confederacy and a broader unwillingness and/or inability to engage in the most basic historical research. Continue reading →
Here’s the problem with this logic. It’s not simply a question of whether or not a Confederate flag is flying on a university campus, public building or roadside lamp. Confederate heritage groups can organize and raise as many flags in response to their removal as they want, but they will never be able to counter what is really being rejected.
It’s not simply the flag, but everything that can legitimately be associated with it from the stated goals of the Confederate nation through the use of the flag as a symbol of “massive resistance” against black civil rights during the 50s and 60s and beyond. In removing the flags the communities in question are taking a stand and making public their values. Continue reading →
Brooks Simpson is optimistic that a dialogue is possible with the SCV’s new chief of heritage operations. I fully support whatever extent Brooks and Mr. Jones are able to engage in a civil conversation about those issues related to Civil War memory that continue to divide Americans. That said, I think it is safe to say that however civil and productive the conversation turns out to be we should remember that Jones will not be speaking for the SCV. Continue reading →
Update #2: Here is the latest. The university issued the following statement: “According to our Office of Public Safety, our officers reported four occasions when they interacted with individuals who were participating in the July 26 rally sponsored by the Sons of Confederate Veterans in downtown Lexington. The officers characterized all of these interactions as respectful. They did not record names or ages of any of the individuals.”
Update: Local news is looking into this incident and supposedly talked to the child in question. I leave it to you to decide whether the voice on the tape sounds like a 15-year old. Even if it is we still have no names, no faces… basically no real evidence.
Southern heritage advocates such as the Virginia Flaggers and Sons of Confederate Veterans love to talk about and claim to live by a Southern code of honor that I assume includes integrity and honesty. Yesterday a post appeared on the Facebook page of the Virginia Flaggers accusing “the Police” of harassing a 15-year old boy who merely wanted to visit the Lee Chapel on the campus of Washington and Lee University. It has since appeared on a number of websites. Continue reading →