SCV in the Local News

This is a new section containing links to articles and information on how the SCV is covered in local news media.  If you have an article or see a story on TV, e-mail me with the details and I will place it here.  This is primarily an opportunity for all the members to get the chance to see ALL the news, which they may miss or do not receive.  In addition to the news, I will post any rebuttals or letters to the editor you have submitted.

 

Sunday, March 14, 2004

    Published in the Leesburg Daily Commercial

    Bill Maxwell, syndicated columnist for the St. Petersburg Times

    (originally published in the Times, Wednesday, March 11, 2004.)

    Article Title:  "Virginia Won't Let the Old Confederacy die"

    Link:  http://www.sptimes.com/2004/03/10/Columns/Virginia_won_t_let_th.shtml

Letter to the Editor in response to Bill Maxwell, by Terry Binkley:

To the editor:

Once again Bill Maxwell is stooping to the level of the race-baiters with his recent column called, “Virginia won’t let old Confederacy die.” It never ceases to amaze me how supposedly educated people can be so ignorant. The very first sentence in Maxwell’s column stated that “Enlightenment is having a hard time taking root in the South…” If by enlightenment Mr. Maxwell means abandoning our culture and heritage and believing the lies and agenda-driven propaganda of neo-Socialists, then I am glad that it is not taking root. He regurgitates the same tired lie that the Confederacy “… embraced slavery, profited from it and went to war to defend it.” Even a cursory look at history would reveal that most Confederate soldiers were yeoman farmers who never owned a slave in their lives. It is beyond comprehension to think that the soldiers who endured the hardships and horrors of that war would have done so merely to maintain an institution that had little or no meaning to them, not to mention that all they would have had to do was remain in the union and slavery would have been left intact, as Lincoln himself stated.  I have read many, many accounts of the war by the Confederate soldiers who fought it and every one, to a man, has stated that the reason they fought was to repel the Northern invaders and to preserve the Constitutional republic that this country was and is supposed to be. One of them, after being captured in battle, was asked by a Northern soldier why he fought. His succinct answer tells it all, “Because you are here.” They were fighting to protect their homes and families from an un-Constitutional, illegal war launched by a megalomaniac in the White House. They fought Lincoln’s army just as the patriots of 1776 fought King George’s army.  No slave was ever brought to these shores under the flag of the Confederacy, but hundreds of thousands sailed here under the Stars and Stripes. Virginians have every right to be proud of their Confederate heritage, just as I am proud of mine, and if people like Mr. Maxwell would shut their mouths and open their minds, they would learn facts instead of half-truths and propaganda. Of course facts are inconvenient to someone who is not interested in the truth.  Mr. Maxwell continues to fan the flames of ignorance and hatred by misinforming his readers. It proves to me that the true purpose of these articles is to propagandize. Yes, Mr. Maxwell, enlightenment is having a mighty hard time taking root in the South, especially over around St. Petersburg.  

      Article as it appeared in the Leesburg                                                    Respectfully,

              Daily Commercial March 21, 2004                                                       Terry Binkley

 

Letter to Bill Maxwell, by Bill Milton, Jr.:

Bill, I have been one of your readers for years.  I agree with you about 90% of the time.  Reference the above article; this is the first time that I recall your splitting your train of thought by starting on one subject and finishing with another.

You start by criticizing the Sons of Confederate Veterans for their plans to establish April as Confederate History and Heritage Month. in Virginia.   Bill, the SCV has designated April as their history and heritage month for many years in different states.  For all practical purposes, April was the month that the Confederate States of America began and ended.

Just as African Americans want to celebrate their history; Sons of Confederate Veterans have a duty under their 1896 Constitution and By-laws to perpetuate the memory and the valor of the Confederate Soldier.

Bill, this has nothing to do with your final remarks: ..."I have yet to hear a white person explain why blacks should pretend that race crimes-such as Virginia's shutdown of its public schools---did not occur and did not cause enduring harm."

No, I do not think that black people should forget the injustices that they endured; but, I do not think that the SCV should be slandered or libeled because of those injustices.  Bill, I was involved in the civil rights struggle in a small way and have always been proud of that.  I am also a member of SCV and see no conflict. 

Please use your powers as a respected columnist to try to heal the breaches rather than make them wider.

Florida's late Gov. Lawton Chiles designated April as Confederate History Month and there was no outcry from our black citizens.  Our present Gov. has banished any symbols of the Confederacy from our State Capitol, but, I don't think that our black citizens look on him as their champion.  Bill, the SCV is not an enemy of the black community.  We have more in common than we have as differences.  We are both trying to save our "Southern Roots" in spite of the efforts of our "southern Governor" and our "southern President."  Take care of yourself and come and be my guest at a meeting of the SCV.

Bill Milton, Jr.

 

Sunday, February 29, 2004

Published in the Orlando Sentinel, 2/29/04

Article Title:  'Flaggers' want Rebel 'X' back

Saturday, February 28, 2004

Published in the Orlando Sentinel, 2/28/04

Reader Views

Article Title:  Southern Heritage Movement

Author:  William H. Swann, Marietta, GA

Click photos to read article

   

Sunday, February 17, 2004

Published in the Orlando Sentinel, February 17, 2004

Article Title:  "Racist Accusations Roil Heritage Group"

Link:  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/

Click photos to read article.

   

January 12, 2004

Published in the Leesburg Daily Commercial

Article Title: " Annual Lee-Jackson Banquet well attended"