Since the January announcement
that Charlottesville City Councilman Kristen Szacos had proposed an ordinance
change that would eliminate the Lee-Jackson City Holiday in Charlottesville, we
have shared information about the rich Confederate history of the city.
One of my favorite topics is the presentation of a battle flag to the men
of Stuart's Horse Artillery, hand sewn by the ladies of Charlottesville by the
Mayor and City Council of Charlottesville, after they managed to turn back the
Yankee army, against 5 to 1 odds, and save the city from destruction during the
Battle of Rio Hill on February 29, 1864. There is a good summary
here:
http://m.dailyprogress.com/lifestyles/yesteryears_column/yesteryears-grateful-charlottesville-residents-presented-a-special-flag-after-rio/article_93d2b27e-a614-11e3-922c-0017a43b2370.html?mode=jqm#.Ux0t7hj1fsA.twitter
When our friend Blaine Hypes,
of the Flat Top Copperheads in WV, saw one of the posts about the flag, he
contacted me and told me he had a replica and wanted us to have it to use in our
fight in Charlottesville. I was thrilled, but even more so when I
received it and it turned out to be a custom-made beauty! Last
night, we took the flag with us, and before the meeting, visited the Confederate
monument, just a few blocks away from council chambers. A citizen
passing by offered to take a photo of us holding the flag.
When we arrived at council
chambers, 45 minutes early, there was already a line to sign up for one of 12
available slots for public speaking. We were disappointed when we
made our way to the sign-up sheet, and realized that we were numbers 13, 14, and
15 in line, respectively, and none of us would have the opportunity to
speak. With a full half hour left before the meeting was to
begin, we saw the Charlottesville citizen who had been shouted down at the last
meeting when he spoke in favor of the Lee-Jackson holiday, and I took the flag
over to show him and chat with him a bit. I went back to my seat,
admittedly frustrated that we wouldn't have the opportunity to speak.
Moments later, someone tapped my shoulder, and when I looked up, it was
the same gentleman, who had come to offer us his slot to speak.
He said that he speaks at every meeting, and he wanted us to have the
opportunity to do so since we had come so far. Overwhelmed by his
generous offer, we accepted and quickly decided to combine the contents of the
presentations we had prepared and that I would deliver the
address.
I included the history of the
flag, and Patrick and Barry held it up as I spoke. Video of my
remarks can be viewed here, with special thanks to Terry L. Hulsey of Fort
Worth, TX, for granting me permission to use a quote from his correspondence to
City Council... and David Tatum for posting the video:
Transcript of
remarks:
Honorable Mayor, Councilors,
Citizens of the Charlottesville and the Commonwealth,
Since I last spoke in these
chambers, much has been made about the fact that I, and a few others who spoke
against the proposed amendment to remove the Lee-Jackson holiday, are not
Charlottesville residents, as if that somehow makes what we have to say
irrelevant. After witnessing the way speakers in this chamber
were treated who dared to have an opinion different than those of the vocal
citizens in attendance, I can completely understand why the hundreds of citizens
of Charlottesville who have contacted us do not feel comfortable attending these
meetings or speaking up in this atmosphere.
Charlottesville has a rich
Confederate history. On March 7, 1864, the ladies of
Charlottesville presented a hand sewn flag to the men of Stuart's Horse
Artillery after the unit, facing 5 to 1 odds, stopped the Yankee army from
burning and destroying Charlottesville. The battle flag was
carried by the unit until it surrendered in April of 1865, and is now on display
in the Jefferson County Museum in Charles Town, WV. The flag
shows the patina of age, along with the rents of battle, but it continues to
serve as a reminder of what might have been the worst day in Charlottesville
history, if not for the courage of its brave defenders.
Some friends in West Virginia
had a replica made and we brought it today to the show the
assembly.
I would like to again point
out the real and present danger of the precedence you are setting, should you
decide to eliminate this holiday tonight. If you take it upon
yourselves to strike down a holiday that was established by the duly elected
representatives of this city, you are opening the door to having the same thing
happen to Thomas Jefferson Day, for instance, should a future council decide he
is not "worthy" of honoring. I, and many of those present
here, witnessed one of your own citizens call for the removal of every trace of
Thomas Jefferson from the very city that he helped build, and receive APPLAUSE
and CHEERS in this chamber, following his remarks. Certainly, you
MUST see that once you open this door, there will be no end to the PC cleansing
of our history and heritage.
In the background of this
proposed amendment, Charlottesville's commitment to be a "Community of
Mutual Respect" is cited, apparently as one of the reasons for this change,
which reads:
In all endeavors, the City
of Charlottesville is committed to racial and cultural diversity, inclusion,
racial reconciliation, economic justice, and equity. As a result, every citizen
is respected. Interactions among city leaders, city employees and the public are
respectful, unbiased, and without prejudice.
How can you possibly claim
cultural diversity when you choose to dishonor Confederate Veterans, whose
descendants make up a large segment of your population? How can
you suggest that this amendment will promote racial reconciliation, when it
serves to divide instead of bring people together? How can you
claim that this decision is unbiased, and without prejudice when it singles out
an entire group of people and dishonors their heritage?
I understand that at least one
member of this very Council has suggested that the Confederate Memorials here in
Charlottesville, yes, even, the magnificent equestrian sculpture of Robert E.
Lee, copied in many localities across the U.S., should be removed, and by your
actions tonight, you will show the Commonwealth and the nation whether or not
you are heading down that very dangerous path.
But, even if you choose to
move forward with this desecration, and should your backwater tyranny
temporarily succeed, you will, ultimately, fail. History will remain unchanged,
and the sterling character of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson will remain,
long after your names are forgotten.Â
I urge you to set aside the
prejudice and bias which led to this proposed amendment, and leave the
Lee-Jackson Holiday as is.
When the public speaking
period ended, Councilmen responded to the public comments and not one of them
addressed the Lee-Jackson Day issue. Not only that, but instead
of calling for a vote and having each councilman publicly record their vote for
or against the ordinance, they approved it unanimously as part of a "consent
agenda", bundled with a number of other resolutions and
appropriations. This was obviously intentional and a
predetermined method of avoiding making any type of individual public
statement... a cowardly move, and stunning even for those who were well versed
on the background and history of this council.
Returning home after midnight,
I received a message from someone suggesting that going to Charlottesville had
been a waste of time. I strongly disagree. Even
though there were a few moments Monday afternoon when, thinking of other things
that demanded my attention, I considered bowing out, those of us who attended
were overwhelmingly grateful that we had taken the time to do so.
We had the opportunity to once again go on public record against the
Council, share a bit of Confederate history with a packed chamber (including a
large number of local high school students in attendance), and made sure that
Council knew there were at least a handful of citizens who will not go quietly
into the night. On top of all that, we got to flag City Council!
;)
That alone would have been
enough to make the trip worthwhile, but as we were leaving we had conservations
with no less than TWO local residents about putting Battle Flag Memorials on
their property in Charlottesville. It appears that City Council
has alienated a large segment of its population, and we can only pray that the
unwarranted assault on the Lee-Jackson holiday will serve as a wake-up in
Charlottesville, and across the Commonwealth. In addition, a
local resident who is involved with public access television offered to have us
develop a regular segment, highlighting Confederate history and heritage defense
issues!
We left Charlottesville
disgusted by the manner in which the Charlottesville City Council took it upon
themselves to strike down a holiday which had been rightfully observed in the
city since 1888¦ but with the satisfaction of knowing that taking a stand for
what is right is ALWAYS the right thing to do, no matter what the odds.
Many thanks to all those who
took the time to write letters and emails and make phone calls to members of
City Council. Your support is greatly appreciated and was not in vain. They
may have won this battle, but we have no intention of giving up the fight.
Stay tuned...
Sincerely,
Susan
Hathaway
In the first quarter of 2015, we have been absolutely overwhelmed by
the outpouring of support and encouragement we have received for the
Interstate Memorial Battle Flag Projects. After putting out the word
that we were looking to purchase a new 80' pole for the I-81 site, we
received the needed funds within two short weeks! In addition, the
number of landowners contacting us with offers for Memorial Battle Flag leases has swelled to the point where we now have a waiting list.
.jpg){kind=link}