Should Confederate Flag Fly At an Atlanta Cemetery? Black Leaders Say ‘No’
- Posted on August 11, 2011 at 2:54pm by
Madeleine Morgenstern
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Black leaders are calling for the removal of a Confederate flag from an Atlanta cemetery where the late president of a civil rights group was buried over the weekend.
Some mourners attending the funeral of Rev. Howard Creecy, Jr. took offense to the flag flying above a monument for Confederate soldiers, about 400 of whom are buried in the cemetery as well. Creecy was the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization co-founded by Martin Luther King, Jr.
A flagpole in the cemetery flies both an early version of the Confederate flag and one with the stars-and-bars design.
On Wednesday, protestors upset over the flag called for its removal.
“For me, it is just an affront to everything that has happened for civil rights and justice for all people that are concerned that the flag still hangs,” protestor John H. Lewis told Atlanta’s WAGA-TV.
Rev. Benford Stellmacher told the station many people came to him upset and asked him to do something.
“We’re prepared to climb up there and take it down, but we want to do it in the spirit of and the cooperation of Christ,” Stellmacher said.
Cemetery officials said while they understand the complaints, they can’t remove the flags because a Confederate veterans group purchased the rights to build and maintain the memorial years ago.
“I have no control over that, it is a memorial with 400 burials underneath,” Charles Bowen, Jr. of the cemetery told WAGA-TV.
The Songs of Confederate Veterans group said they will not remove the flags.
“Those flags have flown there for many years and will continue to fly there for many years honoring our Confederate heroes and our Confederate dead. It is not a racial issue,” the group told WAGA-TV.
A representative from the SCLC said the organization itself does not have a major problem with the flag’s presence, as it does not fly over the entire cemetery.
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Comments (286)
Rob
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:26pmRise of the Planet of the Liberals…
Report Post »Blackop
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 4:22pmShould a cemetery allow someone to fly a swastika flag in a cemetery where Jews are interred? No.
Report Post »Should someone be allowed to fly the rebel flag (or whatever you call it) where blacks lay buried, knowing that that flag is to them, the equivalent to a flag bearing the swastika?
So you‘re proud of the south’s past? Why? What is there to be proud of?
And what has southern culture accomplished in the last 150 years? I hear that the south shall rise again, but to become what? It seems that there is nothing intrinsically noble about it, since all yal do is cry about a lost war from long ago.
Get over it. Live in a pluralistic society like everyone else. You aren’t standing up for anything except a history of oppression and warfare.
Try to do something positive for your country instead of just licking old wounds forever.
henryKnox
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 4:45pm@Blackop has a point. I know we have people in this country that believe we should not add $T’s to our debt also. We should probably put them into internment camps because they don’t agree with the elite ruling class. I think there are probably other groups in this country that have different beliefs and we should include them in the internment and re-education camps. We should not celebrate our diversity rather we should puninsh anyone who dares to be different.
Report Post »American_Bearcat
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 4:52pmHow many Nazi’s died for our country though?
Report Post »ginger100
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 5:06pmYeah, I tried to apply to the United ***** College fund but was denied because I was the wrong color. I guess I had to be an oppressed black person like Sheila Jackson Lee who came here in shackles.
Report Post »JRiFLY04
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 5:25pmMy guess is that “BLACKOPS” is or works for Van Jones…lol ..he seems very angry!!! The black Americans that died fighting for that flag would feel different (I think) . I’m not black,but the people that I know who are wouldn’t be concerned about a flag in a cemetery (civil war at that)… but I also have friends that are black who have been taught that the world owes them something and Disney films are racist and that college should be free for them (white liberal friends too)…I hope things get back to the way they should be, Americans working hard with a smaller government instead of the “one world” government that the President and Van Jones and that chick who’s doing the Middle East I hate America Tour”……
Report Post »GABOB
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 12:24am@blackop
Don’t bury them there if it offends you. Find a cemetary were you are not Offended.
France is littered with german cemetaries that have little swatika’s or iron crosses on the markers.
Report Post »GABOB
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 12:25am@blackops
And try doing something other than race baiting.
Report Post »Jediusetheforce
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:25pmHell Yeah it should. Southern Pride baby. The black caucus need to get their head out of their ***.
Report Post »boats48
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:43pmConversely, you won’t find a red swastika banner flying above German dead in Germany although the entire country was once under it! Why should the “Stars & Bars” be any different. The South lost the Civil War. The Confederacy was defeated, it’s emblem should be banned as well! There is no pride to be taken there!
Report Post »Jediusetheforce
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:57pmThe confederacy did not try and kill a race…JACK!!! Keep freezing in the North where you belong.
Report Post »DirectlyUnPCman
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:58pmThere’s no pride to be found in your pants hanging down around your arse, but they still do it.
Report Post »Jezcruzen
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 4:17pmThis isn’t Germany, Boats. We have something here called the First Amendment. Obviously, this is a private for profit cemetery. The memorial has been bought and paid for. Its nobodies business what flies over that memorial.
Report Post »Now, if you are unable to comprehend what I have said, then you can just kiss my Rebal a$$!
henryKnox
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 4:51pm@boats. There are Germans, Japanese, Iraqi’s and others buried in American cemeteries where we would fly the starts and stripes. It sounds like we should eliminate the stars and stripes as well because it may offend an Iraqi American citizen. What about all the Germans that were killed should we not ban the public display of the American flag so as not to offend them? We either have to embrace diversity or we have to abandon the idea. I say allow Freedom and diversity to exist in harmony.
Report Post »ginger100
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 5:13pmTake down all the Christian crosses and the Jewish stars because that offends one atheist person in the cemetery.
Report Post »blyx
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:24pmAs long as it’s OK for people to burn the American Flag it should be OK for them to fly whatever flag they choose. Besides, people shouldn’t erase history just because they have a problem with parts of it. Forgetting might lead to taking another lap around the same lesson.
Report Post »Living In NYC
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:27pmSo well said…it’s unfortunate that fools refused to read and try to understand history!
Report Post »AlansTigg
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:29pmyou say that as if we’ve actually learned anything from the past and are not currently repeating major mistakes
Report Post »michael48
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:29pmsure…you bet…climb up there and take it down…makes targeting data SIMPLE…next IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »Blackop
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 5:40pmThe illogic here is impossible to combat.
Report Post »Good luck, fellow citizens. I hope your children have an easier time adapting to reality than simply crying about lost wars and race-baiting as you do.
At least you know how to use a computer. Now learn how to use your brain to express some compassion and empathy for others in the human race.
GABOB
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 12:41am@blackops
Your Demonizing people then lecturing them on compasion and empathy. Spoken like a true dem.
Report Post »Living In NYC
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:23pmI think Rev. Creecy, knew about the flag when he bought his plot…he had choice!
The cemetery has Americans laid to rest from a war over 140 years ago…they need to be respected and we cannot change American History…sorry it’s American History and it must not be changed!
Report Post »tifosa
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:21pmBREAKING: Stunning consensus at theblaze.
Report Post »Clive
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:29pmha! hey blaze, i totally expected a poll here.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:30pmFairy.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:35pmBREAKING: TinkerAirHead is still a dolt.
Report Post »henryKnox
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 4:53pmWe need to change (rewrite) our history.
Report Post »dalmationdean
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:16pmreally………is it just me?
Report Post »or is the world just going nuts?
it is history…….if you are bothered by those WHO WERE BURIED THERE FIRST!!!
dig the good rev. up and plant him somewhere else………..
loriann12
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:24pmI have relatives that fought on both sides of the Civil War. I’m not ashamed of my past, though I would have fought for the North, had I been alive during that time. That said, these are Confederate soldiers in the graveyard. Let them fly the Confederate flag. Are we going to change all our history because someone was offended? I’m offended by the Muslim flag, or the communist flag.
Report Post »SAnn
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:43pmI agree with you…Also they had to have known about the flying of the Confederate flag before Rev. Howard Creecy, Jr.was laid to rest there. So, in order for them to feel good they can remove him to another cemetery.
Report Post »techengineer11
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 4:15pmloriann12: Knowing what we know now and you would have fought for the North? OMG
Exactly all that the Southern states feared has come to pass.. We are not a rocks throw from what the former USSR use to be.. and you proudly and ignorantly state that you would have aligned yourself with the Northern aggressors? ughhh
But at least the black man is free right? lol After all that was reason for the Civil War. That’s why ole Abe pursued it so aggressively.. In order to free the slave?
Report Post »AlansTigg
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:15pm“We’re prepared to climb up there and take it down, but we want to do it in the spirit of and the cooperation of Christ,” Stellmacher said.
kinda assuming alot there!
Report Post »They were American soldiers…I’m not a fan of the confederate flag, but it has its place historically and no matter how much some people may want to change history, these men were Americans and Confederate soldiers, the flag is appropriate on their memorial. So tired of people who feel they should be free from ever seeing something they find offensive
Bluefish49
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:20pmNext it will be there are to many Confederate Soiders graves near his…dig them up.
Report Post »Wardmagic
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:25pmMaybe we should remove the prohibition amendment from the constitution?? But it’s there to remind us of our past and what we have decided in the past. So it’s good for it to fly not only to honor the fallen but to remind us of our past.
Report Post »AlansTigg
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:32pmAmen!
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:15pm… and we will much… about… that… be committed.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:16pmThat’s all Al Sharpton had to say on the subject. :)
Report Post »TXVET48
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:39pmThanks for the smile today
Report Post »rickbob
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:13pmThere is an African flag that flies at a memorial for Martin Luther King where I live. I don’t like it, but I’m not going to rush around and ask that it be removed.
“. . .but we want to do it in the spirit of and the cooperation of Christ,”. In the “spirit of and the cooperation of Christ”, leave our Confederate dead alone. . .
Report Post »Smoke Ranch
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:13pmDo these black leaders want these Confederate soldiers dug up? I think these so called leaders have way to many problems with the black youth of today to deal with. They should clean up their own mess before they get involved in something that is none of their business. May the memory of Nathan Bedford Forrest live on.
Report Post »let us prey
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:17pmagreed
Report Post »Fly Old Glory 24/7 365
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:28pm@ Smoke: These black leaders need to take a page from the Philadelphia mayor who got all over the young black ppl about dress, hair, tattoos, etc. There are more important things in the world for the black leaders to worry about than this flag. I wonder what the white leaders have to say about this. Oh wait, that would be racist to have a group called White Leaders…
Report Post »KEEPINTHESKEERON
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:13pmPoor insignificant fool still thinks that the Yankee War of Aggression was about him and his ilk. That Battle Flag has nothing to do with slavery or black people and it’s just nuts to continue to let progressives define it so. Just another nobody trying to make a name for himself and get his card endorsed by the National Association of Always Complaining People.
Report Post »p51d007
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:12pmThen dig him up and move him somewhere else. Political correctness needs to end!
Report Post »MHP
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 9:28pmHow bout digging him up and floating him out to sea on a barge.
Encinom would call this racist LMFAO
Report Post »sooner12
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:12pmNegroes need to get a life.
Report Post »This_Individual
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:20pmAnd honkies need to get a clue. Ridiculous comment isn’t it? Those idiots do not speak for everyone, just as you do not speak for me.
Report Post »Jediusetheforce
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:29pmMaybe the black caucus should worry about the flash mobs instead of their roots which will always be.
Report Post »mrsmileyface
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:33pmIm sorry that my great great grandaddy owned your great great grandaddy. Im sure he paid good money for him,gave him a decent dry place to live, 4 squares a day. Tried to squeze every penny that the man was worth. Im sure your great great grandaddy was a hard worker and the marks on his back proves it. What have you done to honor his memory besides bitch about a flag. Get a life.
Report Post »wildbluyonder11
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:11pmSorry, we shouldn’t have to erase our history so that a certain group of people are not offended. It just doesn’t work that way. Get over it.
Report Post »CCS
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:50pmExactly the point. The Confederacy was defeated. Get over it.
Report Post »I.Gaspar
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:54pmYou are 100% correct.
Report Post »If they really don’t like the flag, they should dig up “their” leader and bury him somewhere else.
Confederate soldiers sacrificed their lives for what they believed in…and they should be honored for that sacrifice.
Echelon
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:11pmScrew those people… these were American’s too. I agree, it’s not about race anymore, but these jigaboo’s continue to make it a racial issue. Their the one’s that need to go away, eat their fried chicken and be happy their not slaves anymore.
Report Post »Clive
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:31pmclassy dude.
Report Post »CCS
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:48pmThey started out as Americans and we’re doing there best to NOT be. Confederacy=Slavery. That cannot be denied. The right side won. Raise the Stars and Stripes!
Report Post »Ex_Masshole
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 4:22pm@CCS: I grew up in the North and was taught that the Civil War was only about slavery. I lived most of my life believing that until I moved South and got a different perspective. The Civil War was more about the sovereignty of the states than it was about slavery. Slavery is a dark stain on our history, but it’s gone. Unfortunately, the issue of state sovereignty is far from settled, so don’t make false assumptions about the lingering bitterness.
The Confederate flag represents the heritage of of the people here and the result of the war doesn’t change that. To try to deny a certain group of people their heritage is the same as racism. Are you a racist?
Report Post »booger71
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:10pmThe South is rising again
Report Post »momsense
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 4:57pmThank God !
Report Post »This_Individual
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 11:20amBring it!
Report Post »gmoneytx
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:08pmObama’s torn on this one, half of him thinks it’s fine the other half says take it down!
Report Post »bikerr
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 4:29pmActually 1/2 doesn’t think, it uses a tele-prompter.. You decide which half.
Report Post »Zcat
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:07pmYes! We have the stupidest black race baiting politicians right here in Georgia. They truly are a disgusting bunch.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:11pmYup, inside the perimeter is just about off limits for me anymore.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:07pmMuch which shall we!
Report Post »SacredHonor1776
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:07pmDon’t you know if the left had their way all confederate soldiers would be dug up, the bones burned, and rebutted in an unmarked area. You know to prevent anyone turning these places into shrines…
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:04pmHere’s a thought, dig the good reverend up and put him somwhere that doesn’t “offend” you.
Report Post »rickbob
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:09pmLike.
Report Post »NWalters78
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:11pmWell like getting a house, planning a funeral involves LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. If you’re a black minister, you may not wanna be buried in a Confederate Cemetary.
Report Post »vennoye
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:20pmGreat idea!! They should have known the memorial was there before they decided to bury him there!! Really am tired of people wanting to RE-WRITE history to make it acceptable to them!!
Report Post »604karen
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:37pmGreat answer. These people whine about everything. Dig the ol guy up and plant him another place.
Report Post »capecodsully
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 4:15pmNWALTERS78 – You’re too funny. Good laugh, thanks.
Report Post »TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:04pmShould reruns of the Dukes of Hazzard be eliminated from tv because of the confederate flag is on the cool muscle car? Good grief, such a bunch of whiners!
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:03pmNot going to comment on the morality of the war, who was right, or even whether a 150 year old flag should still be flown…Just want to say this:
Military men have consistently honored the flag, even the flag of their enemy. If the enemy’s flag was captured in battle it was treated with respect and honor. It would be retired from the field with dignity and then burned with honor as befitting the symbol of a people.
Maybe it is an affront to some. Maybe it should be. Maybe it should serve as a remembrance of where we have been and what men have died for.
Or…
Maybe it should be taken down. Maybe it is time to just move on. I do not know…I am just an observer of history, not a critic…
Report Post »Clive
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:35pm“Not going to comment on the morality of the war, who was right”
Report Post »….
yeah trolltrainer, you are right… i mean, we’ll never know if slavery was a good idea or not, and which side was the morally correct one, i mean, its really a mystery… but its so brave of you to take such a ballsy stance of “i dunno, i can’t say, no comment”. hey ret@rd, you just got “trained”.
CCS
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:42pmYes! Take it down and burn it. It is a racial issue and a cause that was, thank God, defeated. It screams “SLAVERY”! Yes, it means more than that to many Southerners but, there’s no getting around what it means to the black community. The Confederacy lost! Why do we let the losing side write the history and forget what the losing side stood for?
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:46pmAmazing how you really go after the person who is rational enough to see both sides of the argument instead on the folks who are claiming the civil war had nothing to do with slavery. :-) Shows you have real balls! There are always multiple sides to any story, my point was I am not going to make any judgments here. I merely wanted to state that this issue involves honor and respect, something you clearly lack and know nothing about. It is obvious that you are just a damn yankee troll! Good day sir…
Report Post »NOBALONEY
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:03pmConfederate soldiers were americans too, and these flags fly over their graves. Have some respect for the dead.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:06pmAmen brother.
Report Post »Clive
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:30pmthen the american flag should be the only flag they need to fly.
Report Post »CCS
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:44pmThey died fighting to NOT be a part of the US of A!
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:49pmThey fought and died for that flag Clive. If you don’t like it, buy a plot somewhere else.
Report Post »sWampy
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 4:27pmThey fought for equal representation under the law. The north had put unfair taxes on the south designed to take hard earned wealth and give it back to lazy northers. 95% of the south owned no slaves, and most of them hated the rich 5% that did, they would have never fought a war in which half the fighting aged men were killed for a bunch of rich fat cats.
Report Post »smithclar3nc3
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 2:58pmBlack leaders don’t think a confederate flag should fly over a confederate memorial……..huh?
Report Post »I could have stopped typing after the first four words……LOL
Scallyco
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:10pmI think their skin is too thin…. get over it brother, it‘s history and it’s appropriate!
Report Post »let us prey
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 4:10pmlol
Report Post »Rob
Posted on August 11, 2011 at 4:19pmThey do think, “gimme, gimme, gimme”
Report Post »