[VAcourier] Racism In MOC Debate

Fri Apr 6 19:29:03 EDT 2007

Please pass this information around and vote on the poll below.

Please read the article below regarding how a group of intolerant thugs 
slandered the good name of an SCV member here in Lexington calling him a 
racist for supporting the Museum of the Confederacy.  It is the general 
opinion in the SCV that the MOC remain in Richmond, but we need as many 
people as possible to vote in favor of the Lexington relocation on the 
poll below as possible regardless of whether or not you favor the move 
because without the city voting to at least offer the MOC the 
opportunity to relocate to Lexington, these outlandish people will 
win.   It could also lead to increased antagonism against the legacy Lee 
and Jackson both of whom are buried in Lexington.

Please consider writing or emailing the Lexington City Councilmembers 
(addresses listed below) and politely stress the importance of the MOC 
and Confederate Heritage.  For those who do not want the MOC to relocate 
to Lexington, please feel free to express that to the council as well, 
but do express support for the museum, its mission, and its name.

The webpoll on whether Lexington/Rockbridge should support the Museum of 
the Confederacy is at:  http://www.thenews-gazette.com/   The poll is on 
the left lower side of the page.

Residents Charge Racism In MOC Debate

One of our own members was viciously slandered by this small group of 
thugs that our out to derail the MOC because of their own self-indulging 
hatred.  The lies they told make me sick especially the information 
about the schools which I know are utter lies.  The schools have tried 
to ban the Confederate flag until we took them to task four years ago.  
If they had ever thrown anyone out with a Martin Luther King shirt, you 
know that the ACLU would have been on the schools with a mult-million 
dollar lawsuit in a heartbeat.  These people appear to have no conscience.

The News-Gazette
Residents Charge Racism In MOC Debate
By Roberta Anderson
Friday, April 6, 2007 8:32 AM CDT
http://www.thenews-gazette.com/articles/2007/04/06/breaking_news/breaking1.txt

Charges of racism erupted at Thursday's meeting of Lexington City Council.

It was supposed to be a quiet meeting, with a quorum-less Council 
hearing requests from nonprofit agencies for funding in the coming year.

It didn't stay that way.

When Mayor John Knapp asked for public comments not on the agenda, he 
got plenty, all concerning the Museum of the Confederacy's possible move 
from Richmond to Lexington. Unlike previous public discussion on the 
subject, this time the tone was virulently against the museum's 
relocation to Lexington. There were charges that Lexington and 
Rockbridge County had already made some secretive, "handshake" deal with 
the MOC to move here. Many of the comments were accompanied by 
enthusiastic clapping by other citizens in attendance at the meeting.

"I can tell you now that this community is not through with racism," Ken 
Davis, a white male and a16-year resident of Lexington who told Council 
that he is married to an African-American woman. To illustrate his 
point, he said students at Rockbridge County High School regularly 
attend school with Confederate flags embroidered on their jackets, an 
act he said was "condoned by the principal." His children, however, 
wearing Martin Luther King and Malcolm X T-shirts, were sent home.

Michael Hunt, a black man who identified himself as a county resident, 
asked the all-white Council if walking down the streets of Harlem and 
encountering a black person who greeted their presence with a 
black-power salute wouldn't result in their feeling nervous and crossing 
to the other side of the street. That, he said, is the effect of the 
Confederate flag on black Americans.

The only voice in favor of the museum was W.B. "Doc" Wilmore, who began 
his plea to Council by commenting that he had been listening to the 
"rhetoric" from "these people."

Davis did not let that remark get by. Referring to Wilmore's use of 
these terms, Davis accosted Council with the charge that "his remarks 
were racist and not a one of you said a thing about it"

Davis also dismissed an explanation from City Manager Jon Ellestad that 
the buildings in question belong to Rockbridge County and not the city 
as being "just semantics." "It's our city. I don't care who is giving 
the buildings away. I care what's going there."

A vote from both the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors and the 
Lexington City Council will come next week on whether the area should 
submit a proposal to the MOC to relocate in Lexington. Knapp said a 
total of nine proposals are expected from cities interested in having 
the museum, including Appomattox, Petersburg, Suffolk and Danville.

Lexington Mayor & City Council

Mayor: John Knapp
212 Barclay Lane
Lexington, VA 24450
(h) (540) 463-5168
e-mail: jknapp at rockbridge.net

Vice Mayor: Tim Golden
301 S. Jefferson Street
(h) (540) 463-9540
(w) (540) 464-7184
e-mail:  goldentp at mail.vmi.edu    

Frank Friedman
609 Stonewall Street
Lexington, VA 24450
(h) (540) 464-3485
(w) (540) 464-9880
e-mail: FWFriedman at hotmail.com

Mimi Elrod
207 White Street
Lexington, VA 24450
(h) (540) 463-6714
(w) (540) 458-8727
e-mail: melrod at wlu.edu

Jim Gianniny
606 Ross Road
Lexington, VA 24450
(h) (540) 463-9423
(w) (540) 463-3532
e-mail:  jgianniny at lexedu.org     

Jack Page
911 Shenandoah Road
Lexington, VA 24450
(h) (540) 463-9606
(w) (540) 464-7331
e-mail:  pagejh at vmi.edu

Ron Smith
308 Summit Street
Lexington, VA 24450
(h) (540) 464-4366
(w) (540) 464-8181
email: rwsmith at kalex.kendal.org

Copyright Notice in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any 
copyrighted material published herein is distributed under fair use without
profit or payment to those who are interested in receiving the provided 
information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
[Reference: http://www.law.cornell.edu/17/107.shtml]

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