Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 19, 1993 TAG: 9308190254
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But then, says one city official, it always could.
The dispute started two years ago at a parade commemorating the 100th anniversary of the unveiling of a statue of Jackson at the cemetery where he is buried.
The Virginia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans was marching in that parade, and wanted its color guard marching along, decked out in full regalia.
But there already was a color guard marching, it was told by the committee organizing the parade. Members could march, yes, but without the flags.
The color guard that marched didn't display the Confederate flag for Jackson, "even though he died a citizen of the Confederate States of America," said Robert W. "Red" Barbour, commander of the Fincastle Rifles and a descendant of a confederate soldier. "The statue isn't in a tuxedo, it's in a Confederate uniform."
The flag should have flown, he said.
So the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who say they were told they couldn't carry the flag because it would offend those who equate it with racism and hatred, brought a lawsuit against the city of Lexington.
In June, the American Civil Liberties Union went to court on behalf of the group, saying it was their First Amendment right to carry the flag, a symbol of their heritage.
On Wednesday, when the decree was signed, the ACLU hailed it as a symbolic victory.
The city was right to settle the case, said Richmond's Stephen Pershing, legal director for the ACLU in Virginia.
"Symbols are precious. We live by them and we even die by them. People have a right to use symbols in public. That's why we're in this business," he said.
Meanwhile, back in Lexington, City Councilman Brian Shaw called the case "another victory for frivolous lawsuits."
Shaw, who has said he believes it is inappropriate to display the flag because it could alienate some people, contends that the group was never banned from carrying it in the first place.
The Liberty Hall volunteers, a re-enactment group, even carried the Confederate flag in a Christmas parade last year, he said.
The city agreed to settle the suit out of court to save money that would be spent arguing about something Lexington had never put a stop to, he said.
The city's mayor and manager could not be reached for comment.
Which side was right was not mentioned in the brief consent decree, which basically affirms - or reaffirms - the people's right to carry the Confederate flag.
The decree also holds the city responsible for $3,000 in legal fees charged to the Sons of Confederate Veterans and asks, in another symbolic gesture, that officials pay the plaintiffs a dollar "as monetary relief."
"The flag has been grossly abused," said Ed Carpenter, commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Virginia. "People don't understand what the war was all about. Slavery was just a part of it."
The flag belongs to descendants of Confederate soldiers, "not to some hate group," Barbour said. "They're wrong."
But the decree itself reaffirms the right for everyone, even hate groups, to fly the flag, Pershing said.
"That's America."
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.