Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 26, 1993 TAG: 9306260006
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUGLAS PARDUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Confederate flag has been forced off official buildings throughout the South because many see it as a symbol of racism. But in a suit filed in federal court in Roanoke, the ACLU says it's a violation of freedom of speech to ban people from waving the "Stars and Bars" at publicly sponsored events.
The ACLU action stems from a parade held in Lexington two years ago to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the unveiling of a statue of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson at the cemetery where he is buried.
Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Virginia division, who are blood relatives of Confederate soldiers, signed up to march in the parade honoring Jackson. However they were told they could not carry Confederate flags because the flag is offensive to some people who equate it with racism and hatred.
The suit asks the court to rule that the ban was unconstitutional and to permanently prohibit Lexington and any city-sponsored group from barring people from carrying Confederate symbols at public events.
Brian Shaw, a Lexington City Council member who was on the parade organizing committee, says the parade was not a city event. And he says he still believes it was inappropriate to display the Confederate flag because of the "risk of alienating any segment of our community."
Stephen Pershing, the ACLU attorney handling the case, said that no matter how well intentioned the ban was, it was an unconstitutional violation of freedom of speech. In addition, he said, it was simply "silly for the Confederate flag of all things to be singled out for prohibition" at a parade honoring a Confederate war hero.
"The parade itself was probably offensive" to anybody who would have been offended by the flag, Pershing said.
Ed Carpenter, commander of the Virginia division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said the Confederate flag is being bashed in a plague of political correctness.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans sees the flag as "a symbol of our heritage," the good and the bad, Carpenter said.
"Just because it offends a few is no reason for it to be banned or taken down."
by CNB