THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 25, 1996 TAG: 9603250072
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: TAZEWELL LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
A Civil War memorial group whose request to display a Confederate flag over the county courthouse was denied says it hopes the flag could instead fly over another government building.
The Brown-Harmon Nighthawks, a group that honors the memory of Confederate soldiers from Tazewell County, wants to fly the ``Stars and Bars'' over the county administration building on April 26, Confederate Memorial Day.
The ``Stars and Bars'' is the first flag used by the Confederacy, not the traditional battle flag that is normally associated with the Confederate army, said Greg Matney, a member of the group. The flag resembles the U.S. flag, with two red stripes and one white stripe in the middle and a field of blue with a circle of white stars in the upper left corner.
``Our sole purpose is to honor the Confederate dead and to do so in the least offensive way,'' Matney said.
The Board of Supervisors granted permission last week for the group to fly the flag over the courthouse, with the stipulation that it would have to meet the approval of Circuit Judge Donald Mullins. Mullins denied the group's request.
Mullins could not be reached for comment by the Bristol Herald Courier on Friday. There was no answer Sunday at a number for Mullins provided by directory assistance.
Matney said Mullins denied the group permission because he did not feel it would be appropriate.
Matney said he has met with William Brothers, president of the Tazewell County chapter of the NAACP, and has explained to him the group's purpose in wanting to fly the flag.
``We don't want to be confrontational about it. It's not something with racist connotations. . . . It's not a black vs. white situation,'' Matney said.
Brothers said Sunday that the NAACP has not taken a position on the matter. But based on the little information he has about Matney's group, he isn't opposed to flying the ``Stars and Bars'' for Confederate Memorial Day. But, he said, he would be opposed to the flying of the Confederate battle flag.
Matney said he plans to ask the supervisors for permission at their April 1 meeting for the group to fly the ``Stars and Bars'' at the administration building.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia said if the group gets permission to fly its flag, then any organization must be given similar permission. ``Once they create that public forum, they can't discriminate as to what is flown there.. . . Once they open it for one, they open it for all,'' said Kent Willis, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia.
KEYWORDS: CONFEDERATE FLAG by CNB