There are a few misguided individuals, obviously
ignorant of the details of the situation at the Confederate Memorial Chapel, who
have chosen to try and place the blame for the recent non-renewal of the lease
squarely on the shoulders of the Va Flaggers, claiming that our push back
efforts are somehow to blame for the non-renewal of the lease. The facts prove
otherwise, and are easily available in information revealed in any one of
the MANY FOIA requests we have filed over the past (almost) 4 years.
In 2010, a full year and a half before the Virginia Flaggers organized, the Board of Directors of the VMFA voted NOT to renew the Chapel lease with the Lee-Jackson Camp#1, SCV. The Judge Advocate from the camp contacted the Governor of Virginia and advised him of the 1892 contract between the Camp and the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Governor then advised the VMFA that they had to renew the lease, but the VMFA then added the flag removal as a condition of the lease renewal. The negotiations went on for months, until the order came down to sign the lease or shut the Chapel doors. Faced with no choice, the lease was signed.
FACT: The VMFA had already decided NOT to renew the lease in 2010, before the Va Flaggers ever stepped foot on the sidewalk in Richmond. As we reported in our release early Friday, this move by the VMFA in 2015 comes as no surprise to anyone who has actually been involved in this fight, although apparently some who lack any kind of first hand knowledge, decided to use the development to attempt to launch ignorant and foolish accusations to besmirch us and stall our efforts.
The folks who are responsible for this reprehensible
action are the same ones who were responsible in 2010...the VMFA and the
Commonwealth of Virginia. In 2010, a full year and a half before the Virginia Flaggers organized, the Board of Directors of the VMFA voted NOT to renew the Chapel lease with the Lee-Jackson Camp#1, SCV. The Judge Advocate from the camp contacted the Governor of Virginia and advised him of the 1892 contract between the Camp and the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Governor then advised the VMFA that they had to renew the lease, but the VMFA then added the flag removal as a condition of the lease renewal. The negotiations went on for months, until the order came down to sign the lease or shut the Chapel doors. Faced with no choice, the lease was signed.
FACT: The VMFA had already decided NOT to renew the lease in 2010, before the Va Flaggers ever stepped foot on the sidewalk in Richmond. As we reported in our release early Friday, this move by the VMFA in 2015 comes as no surprise to anyone who has actually been involved in this fight, although apparently some who lack any kind of first hand knowledge, decided to use the development to attempt to launch ignorant and foolish accusations to besmirch us and stall our efforts.
Anybody who thinks this would have turned out differently if the Va Flaggers had never come into existence is a complete dupe. There is a war against our heritage. Until we have a concerted, cooperative pushback on a massive scale, it will keep happening, until it's all gone.
Grayson Jennings
Virginia Flaggers
P.O. Box
547
Sandston VA 23150
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