Texas: Confederate License Plates Struck Down
In 2011, the Sons of Confederate Veterans wanted to offer a specialty license plate honoring their ancestors that featured the rebel flag.
But the Department of Motor Vehicles said “no thanks.” So they sued them.
U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks ultimately ruled against the plates last week.
“Well we’re certainly disappointed. We’re certainly shocked. There are eight other states in the former Confederate States of America that did have to sue the government to get to put the Sons of Confederate Veterans specialty plates on their license plates and…every one of those eight states, the Sons of Confederate Veterans prevailed,” said Marshall Davis with the Texas Division of Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Davis says the reason the DMV denied their plate in the first place is because it might be seen as offensive.
Davis says the rebel flag was a soldier’s flag and they condemn any misuse of it that makes it a symbol of racism.
“We have African American members who are descendants of black Confederate soldiers in our organization who are proud to be members and we are proud to have them. Our organization is all about the heritage and to preserve the true history of the South,” Davis said.
FOX 7 asked Austinites if they think not allowing the plates is a violation of the First Amendment…free speech.
“I don’t really get bogged down in those types of questions because I don’t think that you have a right to oppress someone and I don’t think that it oppresses you to have your ability to oppress other people taken away,” said Teri Adams.
“Yeah, yeah I do. I know it’s a flag and it means certain things but if they’re using it as a viewpoint of like…their ancestors were in war, in this major, major war that changed America forever then you know…that’s pretty powerful,” said Kevin Johnson.
On our Facebook page, Shon writes: “States can choose what to and what not to offer for their plates so it’s not a violation. If you really want a Confederate flag on your vehicle so badly then go buy a bumper sticker.”
Tiffany writes “It does violate free speech. Some people associate it with hate and racism which is not the true meaning of it. Read some history books. People have changed the meaning of it. Just like the swastika symbol used to represent peace until Hitler changed that.”
Davis says they are still talking with their attorneys about their next move. But if they go forward, he says they’ll take it to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
–myfoxaustin.com
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Georgia: Confederate History Day Used to Mean Something
It was a special time when businesses and schools closed in observance of Confederate Memorial Day. It was a day when many thousands of people would congregate at the Confederate cemetery for the day’s events that included: a parade, memorial speeches, military salute and children laying flowers on the soldiers’ graves. The band played “Dixie” and the soldier played taps.
April was Confederate History and Heritage Month.
April is Confederate History and Heritage Month throughout the Southern USA, and it’s also the month that many States of Old Dixie still celebrate Confederate Memorial Day! The State of Georgia celebrate it Friday, April 26.
Confederate Memorial Day has been a legal holiday in Georgia since 1874 by an act of the Georgia General Assembly and bill signed by then Governor James Smith, who also served as Confederate Colonel, Lawyer and Congressman.
April is a great time to take your family to Stone Mountain Memorial Park located near Atlanta, Georgia. The larger than life Southern Memorial carving there of American heroes Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee is awesome to behold and a great educational experience for young and old, Black and White, Northerner and Southerner and people from around God’s good earth.Efforts to mark Confederate graves, erect monuments, hold memorial services and get Confederate Memorial Day recognized as an official holiday was the idea of Lizzie Rutherford and Mrs. Charles J. Williams of the Ladies Memorial Association of Columbus, Georgia.
Did you know Black Confederate soldiers are buried on the grounds of Atlanta’s Morehouse College, a historically Black college, located on the highest ground where the Battle of Atlanta was fought?…And, not far from here is Marietta’s Confederate Cemetery which is the final resting place of Black Confederate Drummer Bill Yopp and 3,000 of his fellow comrades.
Tennessee Senator Edward Ward Carmack said it best in 1903:
“The Confederate Soldiers were our kinfolk and our heroes. We testify to the country our enduring fidelity to their memory. We commemorate their valor and devotion. There were some things that were not surrendered at Appomattox. We did not surrender our rights and history; nor was it one of the conditions of surrender that unfriendly lips should be suffered to tell the story of that war or that unfriendly hands should write the epitaphs of the Confederate dead. We have the right to teach our children the true history of the war, the causes that led up to it and the principles involved.”
Black History Month, Jewish History Month, Hispanic History Month and Women’s History Month is a time set aside to remember the best contributions of a people and the word “controversial” is never used to describe these Americans.
Why then do people, including some in the news media refer to remembering our family on Confederate Memorial Day as controversial? The fact is that men and women of European, African, Hispanic, American Indian, Jewish and even Chinese took their stand in defense of the South “Dixie” during the War Between the States, 1861-1865.
Today, those of little knowledge about those men of gray attack the Confederate flag that was bravely carried in many battles…And they want the Confederate flag removed from many places including the Confederate statue at the State Capitol in Columbia, South Carolina. When the soldiers of Blue and Gray walked the earth, few criticized these men.
A native of Georgia, Calvin Johnson, Chairman of the National and Georgia Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Confederate History Month Committee—-Scv.org lives near the historic town of Kennesaw and he’s a member of the Chattahoochee Guards Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans. He is the author of the book “When America Stood for God, Family and Country.” Calvin can be reached at: cjohnson1861@bellsouth.net
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Arkansas: Two New Civil War Markers Planned
ROGERS, Ark. — The Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission has approved applications for Historical Markers in Jackson and Benton counties.
The announcement comes from ACWSC Chairman Tom Dupree.
The Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission Historical Marker Program has approved applications for two new markers.
The Jackson County historical marker will be located at Jacksonport State Park and will discuss the 1862 shelling of Jacksonport by the C.S.S.Maurepas.
The Jackson County Historical Society is sponsoring the marker.
The Benton County historical marker will be located at Rogers City Hall and will tell the story of Camp Halleck and Union activity at Osage Springs in 1862.
The Rogers Historical Museum is sponsoring the marker.
Through the Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission Historical Marker Program, the ACWSC works with local partners to help tell the stories of how the war affected communities around the state.
The Commission hopes that there will be at least one marker in each of the state’s 75 counties by the end of the commemoration in 2015.
To date, 62 markers in 40 counties have been approved.
For more information on sesquicentennial plans, visit http://www.arkansascivilwar150.com/.
–arkansasmatters.com
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Virginia: Civil War Park Opens in Stafford County
STAFFORD, Va. — A site in Stafford County where Union soldiers encamped and built fortifications in 1863 is now a park.
The 41-acre Civil War Park opened Saturday on Mount Hope Church Road.
The park will include re-enactors, cannon firing demonstrations, period musicians and a field hospital. The Friends of Stafford Civil War Sites, other volunteers and members of the National Guard worked on the project, valued at $2 million.
Three batteries built by the Union Army’s 11th Corps, 1st and 3rd divisions, still exist at the site. There also are remnants of huts. Gen. Robert E. Lee drew the Union soldiers out by heading north to Gettysburg and there was no fighting in Stafford.
–Associated Press
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