Southern heritage groups want more history displays
ATLANTA (AP) — They haven’t given up on the Confederate flag, but Southern heritage groups are now pushing for more acknowledgment of Georgia’s Civil War history.
On Monday, a day before Georgians vote in a state flag referendum that doesn’t include the 1956 banner dominated by the Confederate battle emblem, a group of state House members will introduce measures to protect history displays about the Old South.
One is a resolution that would create Confederate History Month in April and designate the 1956 flag as an official “memorial flag,” to be flown at the Capitol on Robert E. Lee’s birthday and Confederate Memorial Day.
The other would increase penalties for vandalism to private history monuments. Some Southern heritage supporters say people with Confederate flags or plaques in their yards have been targeted by vandals. The bill would also prevent any change to the granite carving at Stone Mountain Park, a privately owned landmark with large carvings of three Confederate heroes.
“Regardless of how you feel about it, the Civil War is a part of our history,” said Rep. Alan Powell, D-Hartwell, and sponsor of both measures. “It did happen. We honor everything else up here; we should honor that.”
At the start of the session, Southern heritage groups vowed to find a lawmaker to propose another flag referendum, this one including the 1956 flag. So far no lawmaker has agreed to carry it.
Southern heritage supporters hope the history measures would at least ensure the 1956 flag isn’t forgotten.
“They said we adopted that flag for the wrong reasons in 1956,” when Georgia was defying federal orders to integrate schools, said Rusty Henderson of the Heritage Preservation Association. “We say, let’s make it a memorial flag for the right reasons in 2004.”
The resolution would also call for a plaque to be placed near a statue of a Confederate general on the Capitol grounds. The statue of John B. Gordon, also a former governor, would get a new marker talking about the Civil War in Georgia.
During April, Georgia schools would be urged “to commemorate the period of Southern independence.”
Supporters concede that the history measures are just peace offerings after two years of bitter debate over Confederate symbols. The Legislature is unlikely to revisit the state flag.
“We’ve taken it on the chin, the way we’ve been portrayed,” said Rep. Mike Snow, D-Chickamauga, who voted against changing the state flag three years ago. “This is trying to give us something in return. We want to make sure we don’t offend anyone. We’re just saying let’s show people a little respect.”