York County Confederate Flag Protest & Rally

On Saturday, April 22nd, a Confederate flag rally took place in front of the newly renovated York County Courthouse in York, South Carolina. 

Sponsored by the Private Thomas E. Caldwell Camp #31 SC Division Sons of Confederate Veterans and approved during the previous month's reunion of the SCSCV in Rock Hill, SC, approximately 172 Confederate descendants with various Confederate battle flags (modern and historical) and CSA national colors attended the 90 minute rally to protest the illegal removal of a Confederate 2nd National banner and two paintings of Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson from the courtroom where they were displayed since the early 1940s. 

The York County clerk of court, Mr. David Hamilton, refused to return the flag and portraits to the courtroom, despite promises to do so. This rally was in defense of South Carolina's Heritage Act of 2000 which prohibits the removal, relocation, or destruction of Confederate symbols. It was also in protest of the wrong-thinking regressive view that labels the Dixie Cross banner wrongly as a symbol of "hatred and racism". 

Despite a contingent of police nearby, the rally was held peacefully and the speakers all well received by those in attendance.

The following are photos this blogger took from the event. 

My compatriot and friend Miss Jenna Stoney from Florida in the
foreground waving. This would be the third Confederate flag
event in the last three months I attended locally with her and her
loyal service dog, Confederate Shorty.

Confederate Shorty after a long car drive.
Also Jenna's car looks about like mine does after a long trip, LOL!

Mr. Kirk Michael Carter, Commander of the Pvt. Thomas E.
Caldwell Camp #31 and 3rd Brigade Commander SC Division SCV.

"Today was a day to let the Clerk of Court, David Hamilton, know that for the removal of these historical items -- the confederate flag, the portraits of our great General Robert E. Lee, General Thomas Jackson is breaking the law according the Heritage Act of 2000. "We will not give up. We will see that the law is abided by." ~ Kirk Carter.

At Saturday's protest, 5th Congressional District Republican candidate
Sheri Few called the flag supporters honorable for holding the rally.

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/news/local/article146242199.html#storylink=cpy

Reverend Creighton Lovelace, a Baptist preacher in Forest City, N.C. and NC Division SCV member spoke eloquently about our Southern-Confederate heritage and what connects it
to us as part of a living heritage.

Mr. Thomas Webberburger with a powerful message against
the removal of Southern-Confederate symbols and cultural genocide.

Polk's Battle Flag (CSA Army of Tennessee) and General Lee's HQ Flag
(CSA Army of Northern Virginia) represented at the rally.

Confederate Shorty enjoying the shade and the grass.

I would be less than honest if I said that everyone who attended the event was there to honor our shared Southern-Confederate historical heritage.

Also attending were at least three individuals: two anti-Confederate heritage regressive and one white supremacist throwback, who attempted to pass along their own "messages" despite being vastly outnumbered by the nearly 200 Confederate heritage defenders -- men, women and children of diverse backgrounds, religious faiths and ethnic origins (and in at least one case, a non-Southern Union descendant!) -- who stood fast against the removal and false labeling of the Dixie Cross banner and two portraits of Christian Southern heroes.  

A Leftist anti-Confederate heritage reactionary stands with a
sign supporting the pro-white supremacist stance concerning the flag --
ironically only ten feet from an African-American supporter of
the South's living memorial to the Confederate dead and historical heritage.

This individual with the neo-Nazi tattoos displaying the cheap novelty banner along with another flag above it* tried to send his own message. Instead I am proud to say that he was avoided and ignored by all in attendance. I am please to report he left just as the service started to end sour-faced and without finding any love for the "values" he was attempting to signal with his co-opted (novelty) Southern banner.

A second virtue-signaling Leftist regressive holding up a reality-defying
message while protesting an ethnically diverse group of Southerners
all of whom were gathered as brothers and sisters under a shared Confederate heritage.
Nothing but Southern kindness was shown toward this pitiable individual.

The beautiful spring weather with the strong breeze that kept the banners flying proudly in the spirit of common unity among those of us who dare to defend our ancestor's good name, and the banners they fought under from those who seek to divide us for their own political, or personal gain. 

Our presence and our determination, even in the face of opposition, showed that hatred and virtue-signaling disguised as "tolerance" could not win on that day. Nor will it win in the long run so long as there are those of us willing to face it down.

This particular fight is far from over in York, South Carolina, and this blogger promises to update y'all on whatever happens in regard to the issue of the flag and portraits being returned or relocated at the York County Courthouse. 

My friend Miss Jenna took the final photo while I posed with the group beside Confederate Shorty.

Till next time, y'all have a wonderful Dixie Day!

UPDATE 05-04-2016
*The "Raven flag" displayed by the intruder with the neo-Nazi tattoos apparently has a positive historical origin. The information can be found HERE. I should also add that the misuse of that flag (a Viking symbol) by this person to advance the odious cause of racial supremacy is no more legitimate than the attempt by any other white supremacist to co-opt the Dixie cross banner for the same purpose.
(sighs) Well, I suppose that I must also thank Mr. Corey Meyer for finding that particular information and providing it to this blogger. 

The Tragic Story of the Flat Rock Seven

At Flat Rock Cemetery in Mount Holly, North Carolina there are seven Southern Crosses of Honor and four grave stones honoring the memories of seven Confederate soldiers from Cleveland and Rutherford Counties in North Carolina. 

These men were returning home from the War following the surrender of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse on Sunday, April 9, 1865. They fought for years in the war at places like Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness & Spottsylvania Campaign, and the Siege of Petersburg, and survived only to tragically drown mere miles from their homes and families.

As the local story goes, when these seven former Johnny Rebs reached the Mecklenburg County side of the Catawba River they discovered that none of the ferries were operating due to the extremely high water and turbulence due to rainstorms. Such was their haste to return home to their families they failed to wait for the water to calm down and hired a local boy and his fishing boat to ferry them across. The boat was either swamped by floating debris, or capsized because of the overcrowding, sending everyone into the torrential waters. 

Of the seven men, only one -- Private Ancil Dycus -- was able to reach shore. But one of the other men in the water was his brother -- Private Joseph Dycus -- and he went back in to try to save his kinsmen, and the others. Sadly he too drowned while attempting to rescue them. 

It is believed that the men were buried in Gaston County near the site were they drowned. No evidence can be found to determine the exact location. These veterans grave makers and Southern Crosses of Honor have been erected to preserve their everlasting memories for future generations. 

Grave markers and Confederate Iron Crosses honoring seven
Confederate soldiers who died returning home from the War

This memorial stone set at the foot of the markers and crosses
tells in brief the story of the tragedy end of these seven lives.

Corporal Drury Dobbins Price
Co. F 34th NC Infantry CSA.

Private Ancil Newton Dycus
Co. B 34th NC Infantry CSA.

Private Joseph J. Dycus
Co. D 2nd NC Junior Reserves CSA

Private James Blanton
Co. B 34th NC Infantry CSA.

A. Greene -- CSA. RIP.

John Greene -- CSA. RIP.

John B. Owens -- CSA. RIP.

Flat Rock Cemetery -- named for a large flat rock adjacent to the cemetery --
is located on North Main Street (HWY 273) in Mount Holly, North Carolina.

"The righteous perish,
and no one ponders it in his heart;
devout men are taken away,
and no one understands
that the righteous are taken away
to be spared from evil.

Those who walk uprightly
enter into peace;
they find rest as they lie in death."

~ Isaiah 57:1-2 (NIV)

Deo Vindice!

UPDATE! 05-09-2020
Earlier this year members of the Stonewall Jackson Camp #23 Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) installed three new grave stones for the Greene brothers and Private Owens. A dedication service for the new markers took place on Saturday, May 9th in honor of Confederate Memorial Day. I was able to attend and my photos of the event can be seen HERE.

Thank you for the work you have done, gentlemen!

A Georgia Volunteer -- Poem

Dedicated to the everlasting memories of all
those Known But To God who wore the
hallowed gray of Dixie.

A Georgia Volunteer

By Mary Ashley Townsend

Far up the lonely mountain-side

My wandering footsteps led;

The moss lay thick beneath my feet,

The pine sighed overhead. 

The trace of a dismantled fort

Lay in the forest nave,

And in the shadow near my path

I saw a soldier's grave.

The bramble wrestled with the weed

Upon the lowly mound;

The simple head-board, rudely writ,

Had rotted to the ground;

I raised it with a reverent hand,

From dust its words to clear,

But time had blotted all but these--

"A Georgia Volunteer!"

I saw the toad and scaly snake
From tangled covert start, 
And hide themselves among the weeds
Above the dead man's heart;
But undisturbed, in sleep profound,
Unheeding, there he lay;
His coffin but the mountain soil,
His shroud Confederate gray.

I heard the Shenandoah roll
Along the vale below,
I saw the Alleghanies rise
Toward the realms of snow.
The 'Valley Campaign' rose to mind-
Its leader's name-and then
 I knew the sleeper had been one
Of Stonewall Jackson's men.

Yet whence he came, what lip shall say-
Whose tongue will ever tell
What desolated hearths and hearts
Have been because he fell?
What sad-eyed maiden braids her hair,
Her hair which he held dead?
One lock of which perchance lies with
The Georgia Volunteer!

What mother, with long watching eyes,
And white lips, cold and dumb,
Waits with appalling patience for 
Her darling boy to come?
Her boy! whose mountains grave swells up
But one of many a scar,
Cut on the face of our fair land,
By gory-handed war. 

What fights he fought, what wounds he wore,
Are all unknown to fame;
Remember, on his holy grave
There is not e'en a name!
That he fought well and bravely too,
And held his country dear,
We know, else he had never been
A Georgia volunteer. 

He sleeps-what need to question now
If he were wrong or right?
He knows, ere this, whose cause was just
In God the Father's sight. 
He wields no warlike weapons now,
returns no foeman's thrust-
Who but a coward would revile 
An honest soldier's dust?

Roll, Shenandoah, proudly roll,
Adown thy rocky glen,
Above thee lies the grave of one 
Of Stonewall Jackson's men.
Beneath the cedar and the pine,
In solitude austere.
Unknown, unnamed, forgotten, lies
A Georgia Volunteer!

This poem was written not long after the war’s end by Miss Mary Ashley Townsend (1836-1901), a northern-born American poet living in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. 

Miss Mary Ashley Townsend (1832 - 1901)

A Georgia Volunteer reflects another sad and tragic reality of the aftermath of the War Between The States (1861-1865). Far far too many young soldiers are buried today in Unknown graves across the United States, especially in the American Southland. In those graves lie the remains of someone's son, brother, husband, or sweetheart who died and never returned home. Someone who had loved ones who never knew the ultimate fate of their beloved child, sibling, or lover.  

It is in that memory of those who never returned home -- at least in this world -- that this blogger dedicates this post.

Y'all are not forgotten!

Deo Vindice! 

Anthropology Professor Makes Wrong Conclusions About The Confederate Flag -- But This Blogger Sets It Straight

Greeting my friends and fellow travelers!

On Sunday, April 23rd, a somewhat preachy and pretentious article appeared in The (Durham County, NC) Herald Sun written by Elon University Professor of Anthropology Tom Mould. 

The article, ironically titled: "In debating the Confederate flag, we're asking the wrong questions" Professor Mould continues to not only ask the wrong questions himself, but fills his arguments with factual errors as well as the usual logical fallacies that social "just us" regressives continue to use over and over ad nauseum. Clearly the subject over the so-called debate about the Confederate flag is not among his areas of expertise, as you will see. 

Luckily, this blogger is here to offer the proper corrections and the factual details that the dear professor either was ignorant of, or simply refused to add for fear of destroying his somewhat pretentious argument. 

As always this blogger's point-by-point response to this article will appear in Confederate Red. 

Enjoy.

In debating the Confederate flag, we're asking the wrong questions – Tom Mould
In responding to this debate, I will endeavor to set the record straight -- C.W. Roden: The Man Deniers Fear The Most

By Tom Mould

The tragedy in Charleston June 17, 2015, ripped open deep wounds, both new and old, not the least of which was debate over the Confederate flag. Point of correction: it was the Establishment Media using said tragedy to fire up a debate that the Left was already losing well before this.

Opponents Regressives and anti-Confederate heritage reactionaries wrongly paint the flag as a symbol of racism. Defenders boil the issue down into a catchy, proverb-sized sound bite: Heritage, not hate. Actually, Southern-Confederate heritage advocates do far more than just than spout off slogans. We live those words and teach the next generation to respect them and their fellow Southerners regardless of who they are. We show that the living heritage is a part of all Southern people, even those who are not Confederate descendants, and that it has a place now and in the future. Also all three words are capital: Heritage, Not Hate.

That’s good for a rally but not so good for understanding the issue, because it’s never been one or the other. It is both.​ Since I just pointed out that your simplistic view of "Defenders" is inaccurate, your point misses its mark. I do agree that in certain contexts the flag can be both however. I fear thought that will be were  our mutual agreement ends.

​That is the power – both terrible and beautiful – of symbols. Their meanings shift. Different time periods, different contexts, different people, different meanings. “Heritage or hate?” is the wrong question.​ True, it is not even the proper question at all. The actual question is which view deserves to endure: Heritage or hatred? Better yet, which one ultimately benefits Southern culture and all Southern people in the long run?

​Examining the ideology espoused by the flag’s designer is unproductive in understanding contemporary symbolic meanings if that history is widely unknown. True we could have a huge debate about that particular origin, but let's save that for another blog post, okay? When it comes to symbols, origins matter very little. I would disagree. I believe that knowing where you come from has considerable weight in where we are going, or choose to go moving forward. The Star of David was not originally Jewish, nor was the Ichthus or “Jesus Fish” originally Christian. The skull and crossbones were created by the Spanish to mark their cemeteries long before they represented poison and piracy.​ Yet none of those details diminishes in any way the proper use of those symbols today by the groups you mentioned.

​Symbols are often appropriated and, over time, can take on new meanings that erase their initial intent, so asking about original meanings is the wrong question, too.​ Again I would disagree for the reason stated before. Of course, I suspect that your reason for moving past this would be the damage those arguments does to your conclusions. Let's keep going and see if I am right, shall we?

​It is hardly novel to point out that the Confederate flag was not a widespread public symbol of Southern culture and heritage extending unabated from the Civil War to the present, but rather a re-discovered symbol used by Southern politicians who opposed Civil Rights and desegregation. Actually, the flag itself was widely used by the United Confederate Veterans themselves at their conventions, during Confederate Memorial Day and US Memorial Day parades where former Confederate soldiers and Southern-born US soldiers marched between the Spanish-American War (1898) to well into the 1950s. There are literally hundreds of period photographs that prove this point. Your premise is factually in error. The Confederate flag appeared on the South Carolina statehouse in 1962, not 1862 and on the Georgia flag in 1956, not 1856.​ And on the current flag of the State of Mississippi in 1894....oops, you forgot that one huh buddy? Guess that detail wasn't included in your article because it just didn't fit your paradigm. Tisk tisk.

​No American, black or white, who lived during this time was unaware of the battle for Civil Rights being waged. For many, their first glimpse of the Confederate flag was during rallies and protests, coupled with posters espousing hatred for all African-American men and women, and in political arenas where laws were passed again and again that limited the rights of people of color.​ Obviously that was not the only reason that flag existed in the South, nor was it the only flag flown wrongly in defiance of the struggle for equality:

Looks like Old Glory to me.

​These very public displays, splashed across the mass media, were impossible to ignore.​

​Recent polls suggest the negative interpretation of the flag has increased rather than decreased in the past few decades. Oh ho, this one I gotta see. A 1994 Louis Harris poll suggested that 68 percent of African-Americans were not offended by the Confederate flag. In 2011, a Pew Research Center Poll found the number had dropped to 55 percent.​ Polls of course are highly accurate, just ask President Hillary Clinton all about....OH! Riiiiiiight. LOL!

​In the South, that number was likely even lower, because just three years later, a Winthrop Poll reported only 27 percent of African Americans in South Carolina felt the flag should remain on top of the Statehouse.​ A poll asked in the wake of a tragedy and done in only ONE STATE rather than a national poll, and largely based on a false media narrative. Incidentally, you forgot this poll by CNN taken a week after the tragedy in Charleston:
 

Then again, maybe you failed to mention it on purpose.

​
There is no question that accused Charleston gunman Dylann Roof’s use wrongful and shameful misuse of the Confederate flag was as a symbol of racist hatred. Not even the flag’s staunchest supporter can argue otherwise.​ I don't profess to argue that point, but I did correct your misstatement.

​Nor is there any question that there are well-meaning young people in this country today who grew up with a Confederate flag in their homes or those of their grandparents, who see no evidence of racial hatred in their family. Declaring their interpretation of the flag invalid ignores how symbols operate. Truth! We do not need to label these families racist any more than we need to continue to allow the Confederate flag to fly in public spaces where its meaning has been so clearly articulated again and again as a symbol of racial hatred.​ Problem with that line of logic is that the US flag and many other historical American banners have also been wrongly misappropriated as symbols of things they were never intended to be. To make the argument that such misuse invalidated their public display invites politically correct regressive ciaos when it comes to who feels what way about which one, and which group needs to be pandered to.

​The question we should be asking – and that increasingly more and more of us are asking – is when does one meaning of a symbol become so powerful it drowns out other interpretations? The NAACP concluded that moment had arrived in 2000 when it began a boycott of South Carolina for flying the Confederate flag over the statehouse.​ Actually the NAACP concluded that in 1991 at their national convention when they passed an obscene resolution calling the flag an "odious blight upon the universe" and declaring war against any and all public displays. If you were unaware of that, you clearly are not a very good researcher. Or that you simply failed to learn the relevant facts when you decided to weigh in on this argument.

​The moment came much sooner for some African-American state legislators in South Carolina who began calling for its removal as early as the 1970s when I was growing up there. According to recent polls, for most Americans, the moment is now.​ We've already established that your poll information is largely meaningless.

​Yet while majority consensus is comforting, which again you have NOT fully established that cannot be the only standard for change, particularly when it comes to protecting minority populations.​ LOL sorry, but you can't play White Knight on this one, buddy. As far as "protecting" Black Southerners, you might wanna check out this link HERE. Your view that Black Southerners (or African-Americans as a whole) think as one mind on the subject is clearly defeated with photographic evidence to the contrary....and trust me, there is more where that came from on this blog.

​We must also consider the power of the symbol and the reactions it evokes. The sheer scope and depth of hatred toward African Americans perpetrated under the waving of the Confederate flag cannot be lined up against fond memorialization by a racial majority. Now it is you who makes the wrong comparison. It is not lining hatred up against heritage, it is lining up the continued wrongful acceptance of a regressive, pro-white supremacist viewpoint; against an increasingly multicultural Southern identity and living Confederate heritage accepted increasingly by more and more people of all colors and creeds. Thankfully, there are many other ways to memorialize and symbolize one’s region, one’s ancestors, and one’s history that have not been co-opted by those spouting racial hatred.​ There are, but simply surrendering the flag to the racists to continue misusing it and accepting that outcome rather than fighting hard against that wrongful viewpoint is the act of a moral coward.

​Symbols are constantly created anew and imbued with new meaning. We Southerners need to imbue new symbols, and ensure that our actions and beliefs truly reflect the values of equality, courage, and unity for which we say we stand.​ Ironically, as I have shown on this blog many time over: HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE (and those are just a few examples mind you) more and more people of all colors and creeds are rejecting the regressive view of that flag and embracing it proudly as the living symbol of Southern identity for all.
That is kinda the point you made earlier isn't it? That despite the origins and past uses of some symbols, new generations bring new meaning to said symbols. By your own words, Mr. Mould, you have made the case FOR those of us who fight for the display of the Southland's banner.

​Heritage or hate misses the point. It’s not about how many ways we can interpret a symbol. When one of those ways is so hurtful to so many people, it can no longer be tolerated.​ Accepting that harm by accepting the continued misuse of that flag while rejecting those honorable Southerners that are taking the harder, but more rewarding route of fighting back; well sir, that is far more intolerable. Indeed, it is as much an act of hatred as waving that flag and calling someone a racial slur in the first place.
Indeed, perhaps it is even worse.

There you have it folks, another regressive stooge taken to town by yours truly. If you have any questions, comments, or would like to add anything to this response post; then please leave a comment below. 

As always thank you for reading and I hope y'all learned something important. You don't need to take my word for the facts I have laid out above. Do your own research and learn the truth for yourselves. All I hope I have done -- aside from amusing myself at the expense of another regressive hater -- is help y'all begin to think objectively. Oh and I also hope y'all were amused by my little take-down of ignorance disguised as academia. 

Have a wonderful day, and y'all come back now, ya hear?

Read more here: http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/article145536169.html#storylink=cpy