← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Robbie
Thread ID: 5210 | Posts: 4 | Started: 2003-02-25
2003-02-25 14:09 | User Profile
[url=http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/politics/0203/25legflag.html]http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/pol.../25legflag.html[/url]
An appearance by Cobb County's first African-American state legislator at a meeting of a Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter in Mableton ended abruptly Monday night after she said she was offended and left.
Leaders of the Chattahoochee chapter of the SCV said they were equally offended by Rep. Alisha Thomas' talk and accused her of causing a scene in front of the media for political gain.
Thomas, an Austell resident elected in November to the state House of Representatives in a majority-white district in south and central Cobb, had been invited to speak at the group's monthly meeting.
Thomas had made her position known in support of the current Georgia flag, and the group -- which meets in her district -- had said they wanted to hear her reasoning.
The meeting began cordially enough, though with some tension. Thomas had asked agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to come, on the advice of a legislative colleague. At least three agents appeared to be in attendance.
Several cars in the parking lots bore either Confederate battle flag or old Georgia flag license plates, and a van with the third national flag of the Confederacy flapped in the wind atop a 10-foot pole.
To start the meeting, members of the SCV listened to a prayer and said the Pledge of Allegiance. They then pledged allegiance to what they called "the real Georgia flag," the post-1956 version that incorporates the Confederate battle emblem, and saluted the Confederate flags arranged at the podium. SCV member Jerry Wingate of Marietta then sang "Dixie," receiving hoots and hollers of appreciation.
Thomas was introduced and opened by telling the crowd emphatically that she supported Georgia's current flag, which was adopted in 2001. "The truth is, there are several white supremacist organizations who have appropriated the battle flag as a symbol" of hatred and slavery, Thomas went on to tell the mostly white audience of about 40 to 50 people gathered in the South Cobb Community Center.
Thomas said she understood the historic significance the Confederate emblem on the former Georgia flag holds for some people. "I'm asking you to understand, the symbol that you love . . . is a symbol that for African-Americans is hateful and represents a dark past for our people," she said. Thomas then referred to the lynchings of blacks carried out in the South.
Dan Coleman, commander of the chapter, told Thomas the old flag was removed by former Gov. Roy Barnes in a hasty decision with no public input. Coleman said the flag was designed to honor Confederate soldiers, not offend black people.
Coleman spoke of a tavern in the old Underground Atlanta that played Dixieland jazz, where "Dixie" could be sung in public. He said he regretted those days were gone. "To sweep the rich Southern culture under the rug would be a mistake," Coleman said.
Coleman then noted that the NAACP strongly opposed the Confederate emblem. He blasted the organization as cash-strapped and accused it of needing "a bogeyman" to blame for racial problems.
Thomas, who is 24, was a student organizer with the NAACP, rising to the presidency of the Georgia youth chapter. "I'm not going to sit here and let you degrade the oldest and greatest civil rights organization," Thomas told Coleman. After a few more words were exchanged between the two, Thomas left the small building.
Outside the meeting, Thomas said she didn't regret her decision to attend. "I think it was going OK until he started talking about the NAACP," she said. "To be disrespected like that, I'm just amazed."
Coleman and some other SCV members followed Thomas outside, and they continued to debate the issue and what had just transpired in the hall.
SCV member Timothy Pilgrim said he thought Thomas was "mighty disrespectful in her actions and her attitude here. She called us racists because we love our Southern heritage."
2003-02-25 15:38 | User Profile
Robbie,
This is a great way for her to screw up the evening for three G.B.I. agents. I suppose that this nonsense is an outgrowth of the "war on terror." Thats real sinister, to think that some cars had Confederate and old state flags tags on them. This woman probably couldnt have been in a safer place despite the disagreement on the merits or lack of for the N.A.A.C.P. What does she expect them to say about them when they have compared the Confederate flag to the Nazi flag? Talk about not only not respecting the past, but to compound the mistake with historical ignorance which is so typical of these people.
2003-02-25 16:14 | User Profile
Aw, hell, just take it for what it was - comedy.
25 years ago I was a member of the Optimist Club and I can tell you that for sheer corniness there is nothing like a group of middle aged white boys sitting around discussing the upcoming oratorical contest or bike safety week inspections after reciting the pledge of alligence.
Only such a group would expect to lecture a black - especially one who came there looking for an excuse to walk out - on the joys of singing Dixie. What an unsophisticated bunch they must be. Why didn't they just present their case? They've got a good one. Why the gratuitous nonsense?
For this woman to have requested bodyguards shows either how out of touch she is with reality or was simply her attempt to intimidate in the same way that Roman officials visiting the provinces did with their honor guards bearing facias (sp) containing weapons. It just reminds the masses of who really has the power once the shouting stops and the fighting begins, should they be stupid enough to try it.
2003-02-26 03:20 | User Profile
. "I'm asking you to understand, the symbol that you love . . . is a symbol that for African-Americans is hateful and represents a dark past for our people," she said.
And your self-controlled present is so bright. Outside America blacks have managed to ruin every country they have taken over from White rule. Within America they have managed to ruin every city they dominate. And within their own society they maintain a bastard rate exceeding 66% of all births. Slavery and segregation were the only systems yet discovered to educe any amount of civilization from blacks.