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| Anthony Hervey In Confederate Uniform With Flag, Oxford, Mississippi, May 2000. |
On Sunday, July 19th, Mr. Anthony Hervey (age 49) a resident of Oxford, Mississippi, USA, a US Veteran and Purple Heart recipient, and noted activist for the defense of Southern Confederate historical heritage, the Dixie Cross, and the State Flag of Mississippi, was tragically killed in what appears to be a deliberate road rage incident involving another vehicle.
Mr. Hervey and another Southern heritage activist, Miss Arlene Barnham, were returning home from a pro-Confederate flag rally in Birmingham, Alabama, when another vehicle sped up beside the 2005 Ford Explorer he was driving and the occupants of the other vehicle began heckling and shouting hateful insults at them. Mr. Hervey lost control and the vehicle flipped off the roadway into a ditch off Mississippi Highway 6 in Lafayette County. Mr. Hervey died soon after. Miss Barnham was rushed to the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery from her injuries.
Police are still investigating the incident and updates will be made when they are available.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of Mr. Hervey and Miss Barnham. May God be with them in their time of sorrow and well wishes to Miss Barnham for a speedy recovery.
It is also the firm wish of this blogger that the people responsible for this terrible tragedy be brought to justice for their shameful acts of intimidation and causing the wrongful death of Mr. Hervey and injuries to Miss Barnham. Believe me when I say that those of us who honor these two brave defenders of individual liberty and Southern identity as family will neither forget, nor be intimidated by this act of domestic terrorism.
The following are several links to this story with further details:
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| RIP Anthony Hervey. (Oct. 27, 1965 - July 19, 2015) A True Son Of Dixie! You Shall Be Missed! |
I don't mean to be rude by asking this but you didn't seem to point out that both Mr Hervey and Miss Barnham are both African-Americans. Is there a reason for that? Did you know Mr Hervey or Miss Barnham? Again I only ask out of curiosity. I don't know any rebel flag activists or how they think. I know what I read her on your blog and on other sites. I also admit I am amazed that anyone African-American would support that flag given its historic use (or misuse as you put it) by white supremacists and segregationists. Still, I did see the pictures in the post about Dylan Roof's epic failure and the people of color who seem to support the rebel flag and have to accept that some do for whatever reasons. I don't have any real opinion about it one way or another. I'm biracial. My mom is Japanese and my dad is white. Also I live about 30 miles from Chester in Pineville, NC. I saw your site because I saw you went to HeroesCon recently. I just want to hear you thoughts about it.
ReplyDelete~Haruko Haruhara (not my real name. I don't give it out online.)
Greetings Haruko,
DeleteThank you for your response to my post and your questions, which I will be more than happy to answer for you in the order you put them.
The reason that I didn't specifically point out that either Mr. Hervey and Miss Barnham were black Southerners (African American) is because first of all their skin tone is not the first impression of either of these people that enters my mind; and second, to me they are both fellow Southerners and defenders of our shared Confederate historical heritage.
Confederate heritage defenders are something of a tight-knit group of folks. Many of us know each other from social media. I knew Mr. Hervey only by reputation, though I did have the pleasure of meeting him briefly once: January 6, 2000 in Columbia, South Carolina. For us, the things we have in common in our love and defense of that heritage far outweigh any slight differences like skin color. We are all of us Sons and Daughters of the Southland of our birth. That pretty much covers how we see ourselves, and that is the important thing.
The fact that there are supporters of the Dixie Cross (battle flag, or Southern flag) that are non-white should not be much of a shock to many these days. Well, not to me anyhow; but then again I've been pretty much a part of this issue for about 22 years now, and I've had the pleasure of personally meeting a vastly diverse group of people who honor the same shared Confederate heritage. Anyone who takes the times to look past media-driven stereotypes (like you seem to have, and I thank you for that) would see that love for this heritage and a desire to fight for it's noble defense would see that its not a black vs white thing. Its a cultural thing. Indeed it is not even about the flag or the public display itself so much as it is a desire on our part to defend against and reject the stereotypical thinking of those who wish us to conform to their personal standards of acceptance. Its about cultural identity and individuality, and how we define both for ourselves without others forcing their rigid, and often-times moral-less standards on us, and labeling us when we choose not to conform.
Please don't take this the wrong way, but unless I miss my guess, I would imagine as a biracial child of mixed parentage, you had to deal with the issue of how you define your own identity and how others would choose to define you in one form or another. I could not imagine, nor presume to guess what that entailed. I had my own issues growing up as a bisexual teenager in the heart of the Bible Belt, and how I balanced my concept of personal identity with my faith in God and His teachings. Probably nowhere near the issues you had to deal with, but I do hope that you found some peace with your struggles as I did long ago.
Thank you again for taking the time to write to my humble little blog and for keeping an open mind. If you would, I hope that you will write again. I find it interesting that you live in Pineville, I go that way on the weekends, love to hang around at the mall up there and take in the local cinema. And yes living in Chester County, SC, I guess that would make us neighbors of a sort. I'm also glad you loved my photos from HeroesCon. I enjoy comic cons very much as a world class fanboy.
Speaking of being a fanboy, I could not help but smile at your choice of screen names. I take it you're a fan of FLCL also? It's one of my top twenty or so favorite anime series of all time. I may have to make a list of my favorites for a blog post sometime later in the year, just to show off what a total nerdboy I really am, LOL! So tell me "Haruko-chan" do you also own a Vespa and a guitar too? He he.
Well anyhow, thank you for your review and your interest in my blog. Hope to hear from ya again, fellow anime nerd. ~C. Roden