← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Brother Rat (Old VMI)
Thread ID: 16458 | Posts: 5 | Started: 2005-01-27
2005-01-27 19:36 | User Profile
This man is right, he understands his past, he understands most Confederate Heritage Groups and he understands Dabney. We are living in the future that Dabney said may come. It is dark and getting darker. As Robert Salyer soberly reminded those attending the VA LOS meeting last September "We may loose."
Harry Seabrook [url]www.littlegeneva.com[/url] said this today; "And I would just say this to the Southerners out there who are not kinists: you are walking, talking contradictions. The only reason you look the way you do, talk the way you do, think the way you do, act the way you do, live where you do, reverence your heroes, and worship at your church is because your ancestors, though they lived in a land that was crawling with blacks, loved their own kind enough to remain separate and distinct. To obey the fifth commandment, we should also honor our forefathers."
Our forefathers were not rainbow builders, aka Neo-Babelist Soli Deo Gloria, BR :
[url]www.dfw.com/mld/starteleg...747334.htm[/url]
Posted on Thu, Jan. 27, 2005
A solitary crusade for 'white heritage'
By Bud Kennedy Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Four years after the Fort Worth Herd fired its No. 1 cowboy, he's still bucking.
As the original Herd trail boss, Dennis Merrell was featured in TV reports and magazine layouts. He taught thousands of children and tourists the rich and diverse cultural history of men and women in the Old West.
So why did he carry a protest sign for "White Cowboys" and a Rebel flag in the Stock Show parade?
If anyone ever wondered why Merrell was fired, now we know. Four years after his acrimonious departure as Herd trail boss, he's still bitter enough to parade his job grievance before children and tourists in downtown Fort Worth.
Reader Aurelio Rodriguez of Fort Worth was among those who were confused. A fourth-generation American and Texan, he wrote a letter to the editor calling Merrell's protest "appalling."
Rodriguez noted -- accurately -- that the Stock Show does not seem to treat white cowboys unfairly.
Merrell resents losing his job, as well as what he sees as the ongoing demotion of white cowboys in history.
"Do I have an ax to grind?" Merrell, 51, asked by phone from his Johnson County ranch. He paused. "Maybe I do."
Only a few axes.
In a short conversation, Merrell railed against:
ââ¬Â¢ City Hall for firing him;
ââ¬Â¢ The City Council for not defending him;
ââ¬Â¢ Historians for including African-American cowboys -- too many, he says -- in Western history; and
ââ¬Â¢ Confederate heritage groups for not defending what he called "our flag" -- the Confederate battle flag.
Merrell is the founder, president and sole member of his own one-man riding club: the National Association of White Cowboys.
"I'm proud of white cowboy heritage," he said. "I guess it ain't for everybody."
Asked whether white cowboys are victims of discrimination and need an advocacy group, he answered in the third person.
"I don't think white cowboys need an interest group," he said. "I think Dennis Merrell does."
Merrell was fired in 2000 after a city personnel investigation accused him and most of the Herd staff of "mistrust, professional immaturity, resentment, lack of respect and self-centeredness."
More recently, Merrell has led cattle drives to promote a ranch near Grandview, south of Fort Worth. He has also volunteered for children's charity ranch events. He said he is now unemployed.
He said he is not a white supremacist and doesn't mind working with black cowhands. Cowboys of all colors and both sexes were hired by City Hall to promote the Herd and to help teach a complete Western history for schoolchildren.
In almost the same breath, though, Merrell said that he believes that few black cowboys rode on the historic cattle drives, and that white cowboys are unfairly deprived a more prominent role.
"The white cowboy is fading away pretty fast," he said.
It's tough to find numbers on the race of 1870s cowboys. Different historians have written that anywhere from 5,000 to 8,000 black cowboys rode among the 50,000-plus original cattle trail drivers. Some estimates go as high as one-fourth, or 14,000.
Merrell agrees that vaqueros from Mexico and Texas were the original cowboys and deserve strong representation.
He named several famous African-American trail drivers, including Bose Ikard of Parker County and Lonesome Dove fame, and agreed that later cowboys such as Bill Pickett became rodeo superstars.
But Merrell said that most 1870s trail drivers were whites of Southern origin like his family. He grew up as a "hillbilly from Kentucky," he said.
Instead of white, some scholars would say more precisely that most cowboys were of Scots-Irish descent.
Not all, though. Group photos in the Texas Pioneer, Trail Drivers & Texas Rangers Memorial Museum in San Antonio show at least eight black cowboys in the trail drivers' association. More probably were discouraged in the racism of Reconstruction and Jim Crow Texas.
Merrell further muddles race and history when he complains about Confederate heritage groups. They're not doing enough, he said, to preserve the history of white cowboys who served as Confederate veterans.
Confederate groups and re-enactors -- there were enough in the Stock Show parade to stage a small invasion -- oppose connecting racial issues to what they view as all Southern veterans' memorial battle flag.
Again, Merrell's complaint is personal. His old high school, South Garland, dropped its Confederate flag and emblem long ago.
"I carry the Confederate flag because that was my flag," he said. School officials "took that away from us."
He has ridden in the Stock Show parade the last three years as a "riding club."
The Stock Show parade is open to anyone and rarely restricts entries or signs.
Last year, though, Merrell wound up riding as the very last entry.
"I kind of feel discriminated against," he said.
I think we got that message. Bud Kennedy's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. (817) 390-7538 [email]bud@budkennedy.com[/email]
é 2005 Star-Telegram and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. [url]www.dfw.com[/url]
2005-04-06 22:58 | User Profile
Just found posting on my entry in Fort Worth Stock Show Parade (National Assoc. for White Cowboys). I formed this group after being fired for opposing comments by City councilman Jim Lane to me that were racial, derogatory and demeaning. Mr. Lane told me during meeting that my job was "No George Strait, whiteboy lookalike deal". I objected to these comments to my supervisor, Harold Pitchford, who told me the only way I could keep my job would be to turn black. Despite employee reviews that were above average and commendations I was fired by Dept. Head Richard Zavala. I appealed my termination which was heard by a panel comprised of 1 black, 1 hispanic and 1 white. My termination was upheld 2 to 1 with lone vote to overrule cast by white member. I filed a complaint with EEOC who found nothing wrong with either comment. I have learned that Civil Rights Act does not apply to white males. I formed my "crusade" to bring awareness to injustice. I will continue as long First Amendment right allows me. Update: Since article appeared, Mr. Lane has announced he will not seek reelection and intends to take a cruise to Russia. Sincerely, Dennis Merrell Former Trailboss Ft. Worth Herd
2005-04-06 23:09 | User Profile
Thanks for bringing your message, Dennis. Keep fighting the good fight.
2005-04-07 02:06 | User Profile
Didn't hear about any of this, and I didn't go to the stock show this year. Sounds like a raw deal. Have you talked to a lawyer -- other than the EEOC?
2005-04-09 13:32 | User Profile
An attorney, , contacted me and offered to take my case pro bono. He stonewalled and let a critical date expire with no action. I found out later he was a former city employee and I believe he was working for them. The reason you did not hear about this is local media refused to print it even with irrefutable documentation. I appealed EEOC decision to second in command in Wash. DC. They said that I was disgruntled former employee and dropped matter. Stay tuned as city has said they will not let me in parade next year and I intend to take this to the court of public opinion. Dennis Merrell