Good afternoon,
I am David McCallister a representative of Save Southern Heritage Florida.
Yesterday afternoon, I, our members and other Americans were heartsick to see press reports of the Ku Klux Klan using the Southern Cross at their rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Save Southern Heritage Florida condemns the use of the flag by hooded klansmen yesterday. We view it as misuse and desecration.
The Southern cross is not a symbol of white separatism, which is the objective stated on the group’s web site www.kkkknights.com – any more than the Stars and Stripes which they also mis-used.
To the contrary. The Southern Cross is a venerated symbol of regional pride and identity, God & country, patriotism & family, and love and protection for citizen-soldiers in harm’s way.
Their views are in conflict with the history and origins of these American flags.
I just spoke to Mr. HK Edgerton from his home in Ashville North Carolina. Mr. Edgerton is a Southern civil rights activist, Past President of the NAACP in Ashville, NC, and member who asked
me to read his statement.
Mr Edgerton says:
“Although many of them who have ancestors that served under the Southern Cross – they have a misguided knowledge of history. Their actions have put a stain on that flag – and they need to stand down.”
Though we agree that the Robert E. Lee Memorial in Charlottesville, and others to Gen. Lee around the Nation should not be erased, we do not agree with this misuse of the Southern Cross.
Southerners are sick and tired of our flags being misused by people who don't respect it and don't understand it and Save Southern Heritage is demanding the misuse stop.
Up until the Korean War, the flag had been furled, and held in the loving hands of the old veterans and their families, and used during occasions like commemorations and reunions, and engraved on veterans memorials and monuments.
Most young people in American don’t realize this, but the resurgence of the use of the Southern Cross began during the Korean War when US Soldiers could not display the USA Flag, while serving under the flag of the United Nations.
The American soldiers used the Southern Cross to say to others "we're the Americans,"
It is an unfortunate irony that the Centennial of the war in 1961 co-incided with the long over-due civil rights movement – and that the Southern flags were conspicuously and patriotically displayed during that 100 year observance. We also condemn misuse of Southern Cross by the American history 'erase-ists' who view the Southern Cross as low hanging fruit in their war on America. We view the National NAACP’s 1991 'Odious Blight on the Universe' Resolution as a direct attack on the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution and our families. We can’t tell Virginians what to do, but if we see this mis-use of the flag in Florida, like what reportedly happened in Gainesville last week, Save Southern Heritage will demand enforcement of laws on the books that prohibit defacing and defiling the flag.
Any questions can be directed to our web site at www.sshfl.org
Watch Facebook Live Video here and below.
SAVE SOUTHERN HERITAGE Inc. is a 501 c(4) public welfare corporation that educates & advocates on behalf of Southern Heritage & History. It was started in 2015 in response to the knee-jerk Anti-Southern institutionalized bullying and “Erase-ism” levied against the people of South Carolina by Governor Nikki Haley, after she broke all previous agreements about how South Carolina’s historical veterans and their symbols should be treated and respected. The Florida branch was activated in mid-January 2016, in response to three initiatives in the Florida Legislature that are part of a hate campaign led by Anti-American extremists, who refuse to respect the various cultures that make up the fabric of Florida’s society. Since that time, it has grown in membership and has been active in Heritage battles throughout Florida including the “W'ell Remember in November Campaign” that resulted in #heritagehater candidates to loose elections in Florida. More info: www.sshfl.org.
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