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Thread ID: 20565 | Posts: 4 | Started: 2005-10-08
2005-10-08 13:01 | User Profile
[url]www.suntimes.com[/url]
Confederate flag could fly at Springfield dedication
October 3, 2005
SPRINGFIELD -- An organizer of a memorial to honor Confederate soldiers who died at Camp Butler National Cemetery during the Civil War said -- despite opposition -- the group plans to fly the rebel flag when the memorial is dedicated.
The Anti-Defamation League last week proposed that flags of individual southern states be used instead of the Confederate flag, which will not be part of the permanent memorial.
The league said many Americans consider the Confederate flag "a symbol of hatred and oppression."
But Ron Casteel, national chief of staff for the Sons of Confederate Veterans, one of the memorial's planners, said it is appropriate to use the rebel flag because it is the flag the soldiers fought under.
"We consider this an honorable flag. This is a soldier's flag," Casteel said. "There will be no substitute."
Camp Butler, just east of Springfield, served as a training facility for Union troops and a prison camp for more than 3,500 captured Confederates. An estimated 866 of them died and were buried there.
Durbin, Obama oppose idea
Local and cemetery officials already have approved the plans for the Confederate memorial at Camp Butler.
The United Daughters of the Confederacy, Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Military Order of the Stars and Bars have raised about $6,000 for the project, which will include a 71/2-foot obelisk.
Organizers say they hope to dedicate the memorial sometime next year.
U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Barack Obama have asked federal officials to bar display of the Confederate flag during the ceremony. Officials from the local chapter of the NAACP also are opposed, saying the flag "represents oppression and murder."
The Anti-Defamation League said flying the flags of the buried soldiers' home states is "a far better way to honor these soldiers and their origins."
The policy at national cemeteries is to allow Confederate flags to be carried in and out when monuments are dedicated, according to Camp Butler. Otherwise, Confederate flags are not allowed to be flown in national cemeteries.
AP
Copyright é The Sun-Times Company All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. [url]http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-rebel03.html[/url] =============== NAACP :afro: +ADL :caiphas: =:dung:
2005-10-11 10:59 | User Profile
HERE'S THE REST OF THE STORY THAT WAS CUT FROM THAT ARTICLE, WITH ALL THE GIBBERISH FROM THE SonsofColoredVets LEFT INTACT:
Group rejects state flag idea for Confederate soldier memorial
By JOHN REYNOLDS STAFF WRITER Published Sunday, October 02, 2005
A supporter of the proposed Confederate memorial at Camp Butler National Cemetery has rejected a proposal by the Anti-Defamation League that would have replaced the Confederate flag with southern state flags during a dedication ceremony.
The ADL, which lists the Confederate flag on its website as a "general racist symbol," said flying southern state flags would be "less divisive."
Ron Casteel, national chief of staff for the Sons of Confederate Veterans, disagrees.
"They (the ADL) can call the Confederate flag a hate symbol all they want," Casteel said during a phone interview from his home in Jefferson City, Mo. "We consider this an honorable flag. This is a soldier's flag. There will be no substitute."
Casteel's group is one of several behind a proposed memorial to honor the 866 Confederate soldiers buried at Camp Butler near Riverton. The memorial itself will not bear a permanent Confederate flag or Confederate insignia, but supporters do plan to fly the Confederate flag during a dedication ceremony, which could take place some time next year.
Both of Illinois' U.S. senators, Dick Durbin and Barack Obama, have signed a letter asking federal officials to prohibit display of the Confederate flag during the dedication. The Springfield Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People also has called for the flag not to be flown during the ceremony.
Earlier this week, the ADL weighed in with a press release from Lonnie Nasatir, director of the ADL's Upper Midwest Region, based in Chicago.
"We object to the display of the Confederate flag at a national cemetery," Nasatir said. "While honoring Confederate war dead with a memorial is appropriate, we applaud senators Durbin and Obama and the Springfield NAACP for their stand against the display of a flag that for many Americans is a symbol of hatred and oppression."
The ADL proposed flying the state flags of the buried soldiers' home states.
"A far better way to honor these soldiers and their origins would be to fly the flags of the states from whence they came."
Casteel said it is appropriate to use the Confederate battle flag because that is the flag that the deceased soldiers fought under.
[B][COLOR=DarkRed]While maintaining that the flag it self is not a symbol of hate, he did acknowledge that it has been appropriated by "hateful elements."
"It is true that a bunch of idiotic Ku Klux Klansmen and other people who are haters confiscated our flag and used it dishonorably," Casteel said. "The Confederate battle flag is in the public domain. We can't copyright it."[/COLOR][/B]
Because Camp Butler is a national cemetery, the only flags that can be flown at the site permanently are the American flag and the POW/MIA flag. Federal rules allow the Confederate flag to be carried into the cemetery on Memorial Day and Confederate Memorial Day. If a state does not have an official Confederate Memorial Day, local historical re-enactors can choose the date.
A date has not been set for a dedication ceremony for the Confederate memorial.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans, the Military Order of the Stars and Bars, the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Order of the Southern Cross have raised $6,000 for the memorial.
The memorial is to be an obelisk that will stand about 71/2 feet tall and will be inscribed with the words, "In memory of the Confederate veterans who died at the Camp Butler Confederate prison camp, may they never be forgotten."
Bill Rhoades, director of Camp Butler, said Confederate soldiers from every southern state except Florida are buried at Camp Butler.
[COLOR=DarkRed][B]Despite the racist connotations some believe the Confederate flag has, Casteel pointed out that blacks fought for the Confederacy. There also are black members in the Sons of Confederate Veterans, he said.
:afro: :afro: :afro:
"It would be entirely appropriate if a group of black members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans were at this occasion (dedication) next year," Casteel said.[/B][/COLOR]
Ken Page, president of the Springfield branch of the NAACP, questioned how much choice black Confederate soldiers truly had.
"We were forced into a lot of things in the South," Page said.
Like the ADL, Page does not object to the memorial. But Page also doesn't like the state flag proposal.
"The only flag that should be flown at the cemetery is Old Glory," Page said.
John Reynolds can be reached at 788-1524 or [email]john.reynolds@sj-r.com[/email].
2005-10-11 20:16 | User Profile
How does your posting of disgusting pictures mean that we're OWN3D? All it does is suggest to us that you enjoy looking at that filth. Hell, you probably engage in it.
A moderator here will deal with your crap soon enough.
2005-10-11 20:30 | User Profile
Good, someone already deleted that idiot's garbage.