THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 24, 1994 TAG: 9409240269
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE and MARGARET EDDS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb on Friday accused Republican Oliver L. North of trying to divide voters and ``reopen old wounds'' by supporting the public display of the Confederate flag.
Speaking to reporters in the predominantly black Church Hill section of Richmond, Robb said North may try to use the flag issue as a means to energize his base of conservative voters.
``It clearly resonates with some of his target audience,'' Robb said. ``But it resonates because it's an appeal to intolerance and not to the kind of mainstream values that I hope to continue to support.''
It was one of the few personal attacks Robb has ventured to make, and it brought swift and furious response. A few minutes afterward, North held a news conference in a downtown Richmond club to launch a withering counterattack.
North accused Robb of using the Confederate flag issue to appeal to the racial sensitivities of supporters of former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, who exited the Senate race last week.
``Let me figure out what is going on here,'' North said in mock confusion. ``Chuck Robb, who has permanently alienated the African-American vote in Virginia by being involved in the wiretapping of Gov. Wilder, is now desperate to raise funds for himself and has launched a very cynical effort to win back that vote by trying to divide the commonwealth along racial lines. I believe that's a shameful act.''
The Republican was referring to a 1991-93 federal grand jury investigation of Robb's role in providing the media with an illegally recorded cellular telephone conversation between Wilder and a supporter. Robb was not charged, but three of his former Senate staff members were convicted of conspiring to leak the tape.
On Friday, North also accused the media of misrepresenting his statement at a rally in Danville on Tuesday that ``there's absolutely no reason for political correctness'' when it comes to the public display of the Confederate flag.
Friday, North acknowledged that the flag could be painful to some people, given the South's legacy of slavery.
``Yes, I can understand how some people can be offended, but are we going to take every monument and cemetery south of the Mason-Dixon Line down?'' North asked.
Robb said he could understand displaying the Confederate flag ``in an appropriate historical context. . . . It's only when it's a contemporary context that serves to divide. I can't either challenge or regulate what individuals do. I can hope they're sensitive enough to their fellow human beings that they would not want to gratuitously divide.''
Robb explained he never requested the Confederate flag be removed from Virginia National Guard fighter planes when he was governor because the issue never came up until Wilder took office.
``That's a great answer for a governor,'' North said, when told of Robb's reply. ``Maybe he was busy doing other things as governor.''
North was referring to allegations that Robb's after-hours socializing as governor included liaisons with young women and attending parties at Virginia Beach where cocaine allegedly was used. Robb has denied ever seeing drug use, but has admitted to behavior ``not appropriate for a married man.''
Independent Senate candidate J. Marshall Coleman has argued against displaying the Confederate flag because it offends some Virginians.
Coleman said Thursday that ``as long as it creates such division between blacks and whites, I don't think we should compound that division by displaying the flag on public buildings.''
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE CANDIDATE by CNB