Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 10, 1993 TAG: 9310100203
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NOTTOWAY LENGTH: Medium
"Maybe there were a handful of blacks who fought against the freedom of their brother," said Melvin Austin, a local dentist. "But if they did, you don't honor that. That's a disgrace."
Austin sent a letter of opposition to a local newspaper, setting off a series of angry battles over the proposed marker for the base of a Confederate monument at the Nottoway County courthouse. The Nottoway chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People announced its opposition to the marker.
The county Board of Supervisors, which had approved the project, backed off and appointed a committee of black residents to study the appropriateness of a marker. The committee will make its recommendation Oct. 21.
The High Bridge camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans wants to erect the marker Oct. 23 at a rededication ceremony on the 100th anniversary of the Confederate monument. The marker would read, "Dedicated to over 400 Nottoway County African-Americans, free and slave, conscript and volunteer, who served Virginia and the Confederacy from 1861-1865. The memory of their sacrifices will never perish."
"All we want to do is erect a monument to honor the . . . soldiers who fought in the Confederacy," said Jackie Price, chapter commander. "It's a part of history that's been left out."
Jack Green, one of the county's two black supervisors, backed the Sons of Confederate Veterans: "I think we need to know our history, the good and the bad," he said.
Price said that if the county rejects the marker, the chapter will look for another location.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.