Connect with us

Politics

Some Examples of Confederate Tributes Around the South

Published

on

The Mississippi flag hangs, with the other state flags, in the subway between the U.S. Capitol and Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, Tuesday, June 23, 2015.  In the wake of a massacre at a black church in Charleston, S.C., a bipartisan mix of officials across the country is calling for the removal of Confederate flags and other symbols of the Confederacy. Leaders of the Republican-controlled state of Mississippi are divided on whether to alter the state's flag, a corner of which is made up of the Confederate battle flag.  (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

The Mississippi flag hangs, with the other state flags, in the subway between the U.S. Capitol and Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, Tuesday, June 23, 2015. In the wake of a massacre at a black church in Charleston, S.C., a bipartisan mix of officials across the country is calling for the removal of Confederate flags and other symbols of the Confederacy. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

The Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Tributes to the Confederacy and the Jim Crow era that have existed still abound in the Deep South and beyond more than a century after the end of the Civil War.

Here are some of the most high-profile displays, including several that are being criticized anew following the fatal shooting of nine parishioners at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina:

— ALABAMA: An 88 -foot-tall Confederate memorial sits at the Capitol entrance nearest the governor’s office. It features four different Confederate banners, including the battle flag. Jefferson Davis, the lone president of the Confederacy, is said to have laid the cornerstone at a ceremony in 1886. Two nearby public high schools, now with nearly all-black student bodies, are named for Davis and Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate forces.

— ARKANSAS: There are two Confederate monuments on the Capitol grounds, one honoring Confederate women, the other soldiers.

— FLORIDA: No confederate flag flies at the Florida Capitol, but the state flag, whose main design was adopted in 1900, features a St. Andrew’s Cross — an ‘X’ emblazoned across the banner. The imagery is similar to the Battle Flag, though it also reflects a flag of the Spanish empire when it ruled Florida from the early 16th century until 1763. Several county courthouses and local public squares or parks feature Confederate veterans monuments.

— GEORGIA: The Capitol and surrounding grounds feature multiple statues, busts and portraits of Confederate war heroes and segregationist politicians. In the Capitol rotunda is a portrait of Alexander H. Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy. A bust of Stephens sits just outside the rotunda. The Georgia state flag, a compromise version that replaced a design with the battle flag, is modeled after the “Stars and Bars,” the first national flag of the Confederacy. Twenty miles from the Capitol is Stone Mountain, which features a massive carving of Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, all on horseback.

— KENTUCKY: Jefferson Davis is among the statues included in the Capitol rotunda. The Davis statue is situated behind the Abraham Lincoln statute that sits in the rotunda’s center, so that the president of the Confederacy appears to be looking over the shoulder of the 16th U.S. president who governed during the Civil War.

— LOUISIANA: A statue of Robert E. Lee sits at the center of Lee Circle, a major traffic circle connecting downtown New Orleans to the Garden District neighborhood. Another city thoroughfare is named for Jefferson Davis and includes a statue of the Confederate president.

— MISSISSIPPI: The state flag is the last U.S. state banner to include an explicit image of the Confederate battle flag. At one Capitol entrance sits a monument to the women of the Confederacy. The University of Mississippi’s athletics teams are knowns as the “Ole Miss Rebels,” and the school’s band often plays “Dixie” at sporting events.

— NORTH CAROLINA: An obelisk memorial to the state’s Confederate war dead and a monument to the “North Carolina Women of the Confederacy” are located on the old Capitol grounds in Raleigh. The Capitol square also includes statues of Civil War-era Gov. Zebulon Vance and Gov. Charles Aycock, known partly for his anti-black rhetoric at the end of the 19th century.

— SOUTH CAROLINA: The Confederate battle flag flies at the base of a Confederate monument in front of the Capitol. It flies between a Confederate monument and a statue of Benjamin Tillman, a noted white supremacist who spent three decades — from 1890 to 1918 — as governor and U.S. senator. Behind the Capitol is a statue of Strom Thurmond, a long-serving U.S. senator who ran for president in 1948 as a “Dixiecrat” to protest the national Democratic Party’s softening stance on segregation.

— TENNESSEE: A bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, an early Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, is inside the Capitol.

— VIRGINIA: Arlington National Cemetery, formerly the plantation of Robert E. Lee, includes a Confederate section with almost 500 graves surrounding a memorial. Future President William Howard Taft authorized the memorial in 1906, when he served as secretary of war for President Theodore Roosevelt.

___

Compiled by Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Kim Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama; Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi; and Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

on

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Continue Reading

Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

Published

on

Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12).

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.

Continue Reading

Community

Financial Assistance Bill for Descendants of Enslaved Persons to Help Them Purchase, Own, or Maintain a Home

California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) vice chair Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood) introduced new legislation related to reparations to the Senate Committee on Housing on April 2 in Sacramento. Senate Bill (SB) 1007, “establishes the Homeowner’s Assistance for Descendants of Enslaved Persons Program to make financial aid or assistance available to descendants for the purposes of purchasing, owning, or maintaining a home,” the legislation states.

Published

on

Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood). Photo Courtesy of L.A. Sentinel
Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood). Photo Courtesy of L.A. Sentinel

California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) vice chair Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood) introduced new legislation related to reparations to the Senate Committee on Housing on April 2 in Sacramento.

Senate Bill (SB) 1007, “establishes the Homeowner’s Assistance for Descendants of Enslaved Persons Program to make financial aid or assistance available to descendants for the purposes of purchasing, owning, or maintaining a home,” the legislation states.

The Senate Housing Committee advanced the bill with an 8-1 vote. It will be re-referred to the Appropriations Committee for consideration.

Sen. Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta) was the only member who voted against the bill.

“SB 1007 is about starting a long process of paying back a debt that is not only owed, but that was also promised, and is 160 years overdue, to African Americans,” Bradford told the committee chaired by Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley). “It is the first step in closing the wealth and equity gap created by centuries of slavery and racial discrimination policies.”

The bill aligns with one of the 115 recommendations listed in a two-year study conducted by the California reparations task force, of which Bradford was one of nine members.

Bradford said the report reveals that, in the state of California, a typical Black-owned home is 22% less valuable than a White-owned home.

Various advocacy groups from around the state attended the hearing held at the State Capitol Annex Swing Space. The California Housing Partnership, Bay Area Regional Health and Inequities Initiative, Coalition for A Just and Equitable California, Disability Rights of California, the American Civil Liberties Union of California, and California Community Builders all voiced their support of the bill.

Continue Reading

Subscribe to receive news and updates from the Oakland Post

* indicates required

CHECK OUT THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE OAKLAND POST

ADVERTISEMENT

WORK FROM HOME

Home-based business with potential monthly income of $10K+ per month. A proven training system and website provided to maximize business effectiveness. Perfect job to earn side and primary income. Contact Lynne for more details: Lynne4npusa@gmail.com 800-334-0540

Facebook

Trending

Copyright ©2021 Post News Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.