Subject: NAACP issues ultimatum on Confederate flag ban
\nBY ELGIN JONES June 12, 2009<\/p>\n
HOMESTEAD \u2014 Civil rights groups on Thursday put city and business leaders here on a 30-day notice that unless they meet a list of demands \u2013 including a ban on the display of the Confederate flag at taxpayer-funded events \u2013 they will be subjected to protests and boycotts. More than 100 people converged on the steps of Homestead City Hall for a press conference organized by clerical, civil rights and community groups who submitted the list of demands.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are ready to talk with the city of Homestead and the Homestead Chamber of Commerce concerning our action items. And our issues are with them, and not with the Sons of the Confederacy,\u201d said Bishop Victor T. Curry, president of the Miami-Dade branch of the NAACP. \u201cIf the Sons of the Confederacy want to have their own parade, we are not trying to stifle freedom of speech or freedom of expression. We just don\u2019t want to see racism walking down the streets of Homestead, being funded by the taxpayers.\u201d Curry warned business leaders that if their demands are not met by the 30-day deadline, the controversy would escalate to another level. \u201cWe want the mayor and the council, and the chamber, to do the right thing. We hope that we could start this with a positive dialogue. But we\u2019re also ready to move from dialogue to demonstration,\u201d Curry said. \u201cWe are also prepared to say to the businesses that support the chamber, that if you want to offend the people of this great county and community, then we will seek other places to spend our dollars,\u2019\u2019 Curry said. \u201cWe will not pay you to offend us.\u201d At the press conference, the coalition of organizations issued a six-point ultimatum and a 30-day deadline for those conditions to be met. If the demands are not met, the city could face protests and economic boycotts of local businesses. The list of demands includes:<\/p>\n
\u2022 An apology from Mayor Lynda Bell and city officials over their handling of the issue;
\n\u2022 A reversal of the city council\u2019s vote to dissolve the advisory Homestead\/Florida City; Human Relations Board, which initiated the challenge to the Confederate flag;
\n\u2022 A meeting between city officials and coalition members to discuss other concerns;
\n\u2022 A meeting between Chamber of Commerce representatives and the coalition to discuss their concerns;
\n\u2022 The city\u2019s adoption of the guidelines for parades that the Human Relations Board established.
\n\u2022 The Chamber of Commerce\u2019s restriction of all flags in its events to official local, state and\/or national flags.<\/p>\n
None of the city council or chamber officials, including Mayor Lynda Bell, attended Thursday\u2019s press conference, and none could be reached for comment about the demands, or the 30-day time limit. \u201cIn light of the comments that Mayor Lynda Bell is making about us, their lack of response really doesn\u2019t surprise me,\u201d said Rosemary Fuller, the former chairwoman of the now dissolved Human Relations Board. \u201cI think Mayor Lynda Bell has not demonstrated any leadership in how she has handled this issue and for her to criticize those of us who are opposed to the Confederate flag is what has caused this to go on for the last seven months,\u2019\u2019 Fuller said. \u201cThe city needs to designate someone else as the point person on this issue.\u201d Curry said Bell canceled a meeting that was scheduled to take place between the coalition and city officials immediately after the press conference. He said she canceled because she objected to having former members of the Human Relations Board participate in the meeting. \u201cI really think it\u2019s unfortunate that she [Mayor Lynda Bell] doesn\u2019t have the foresight to understand that she needs to work with Rosemary and myself, and it\u2019s a disservice to the citizens of Homestead,\u201d said Pat Mellerson, a founding member of the Human Relations Board. \u201cI think the council should try to work with us, and meet the demands,\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cI think if the mayor does not want to have this resolved, someone else should take the lead.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
The controversy dates back to the 2008 Veterans Day Parade in the city, which was organized by the Greater Homestead\/Florida City Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber allows the Sons of Confederate Veterans to march and display the Confederate battle flag in the procession. Opponents of the Confederate flag say it is a reminder of the violence and oppression of slavery. Supporters insist it is a symbol of their southern heritage and pride. Homestead officials say they had no say in the city\u2019s Veterans Day parade because it was organized by the chamber\u2019s Military Affairs Committee, and the city only provided in-kind and logistical support. Therefore, they said, the city has no say in who is allowed to participate in the event. Chamber of Commerce officials say it is a matter of freedom of speech, and they would not ban the groups from marching in future parades.<\/p>\n
H.K. Edgerton is a 61-year-old African American and former president of the Asheville, North Carolina branch of the NAACP. He is also the founder and president of Southern Heritage 411, a pro-Confederate States organization whose intended purpose is to educate black people about their role in the Confederate Army and civil war. \u201cIf they are successful in banning the flag, we will surely file a lawsuit to stop it,\u201d Edgerton said when he was informed of the press conference. He also sits on the board of the pro-Confederacy, Southern Legal Resource Center in Black Mountain, North Carolina, which is near Asheville. \u201cI think it\u2019s absurd,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cIt sends the wrong kind of message, especially when you\u2019re talking about fulfilling Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s dream of bringing together the sons of former slaves and slave owners. What the NAACP is doing, once again, is trying to use the Confederate flag to solicit donations and increase its coffers, with the same old tactic of trying to divide Americans, but it will fail again.\u201d Edgerton said he is not sure if his lifetime membership in the civil rights organization remains intact, but he has not been active since deciding not to run for reelection in 1988.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Subject: NAACP issues ultimatum on Confederate flag ban BY ELGIN JONES June 12, 2009 HOMESTEAD \u2014 Civil rights groups on Thursday put city and business leaders here on a 30-day notice that unless they meet a list of demands \u2013 including a ban on the display of the Confederate flag at taxpayer-funded events \u2013 they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.southernheritageadvancementpreservationeducation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.southernheritageadvancementpreservationeducation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.southernheritageadvancementpreservationeducation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.southernheritageadvancementpreservationeducation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.southernheritageadvancementpreservationeducation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.southernheritageadvancementpreservationeducation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":336,"href":"https:\/\/wp.southernheritageadvancementpreservationeducation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335\/revisions\/336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.southernheritageadvancementpreservationeducation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.southernheritageadvancementpreservationeducation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.southernheritageadvancementpreservationeducation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}