Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on April 10, 2015

SUMMERVILLE, Ga.

One hundred and fifty years after the final drops of soldiers' blood sealed the Civil War, the South's battle flag has returned to the grounds of Chattooga County's government.

The local chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans raised the flag on the courthouse lawn at the beginning of April, Georgia's official month to honor soldiers who fought on that side of the Civil War. Flying next to a monument for Confederate soldiers, it will wave until the end of the month, when the Sons replace it with the Bonnie Blue Flag, another Confederate emblem.

Stan Hammond, commander of the local chapter, said the group did this because it wants everyone in town to remember the South's side in the Civil War.

"History is written by the victors in about any war you see," he said. "(The flag and monument) commemorate them. They'll never be forgotten."

Jim Day, a local historian and former high school history teacher who wrote four studies on Civil War soldiers from the area, said Chattooga County's two representatives voted against seceding when the state leaders debated the issue. Georgia seceded anyway, and between 900 and 1,100 people from Chattooga County served the Confederacy in the Army of Tennessee and the Army of Northern Virginia, led by Robert E. Lee.

Last May, with Commissioner Jason Winters' approval, the Sons planted a 7-foot-tall granite monument on county-owned property. Winters said the marker preserves the history of the war and promotes tourism. After the Civil War, Confederate veterans voted to make the battle flag their recognized symbol.

Summerville's mayor and police chief, the first blacks in the city's history to serve in their positions, do not support the flag. Mayor Harry Harvey said it should fly on private property; it doesn't belong at the courthouse.

"There is a better location as far as that is concerned," he said. "I do think there are, of course, places for heritage and those type of things. But at the same time, we need to be sensitive to other people."

Harvey, 65, was an educator in Chattooga County for 30 years before running for office. He said he has experienced racism, though he did not want to discuss his personal life. He did not know the flag would fly at the courthouse until he saw it, he said.

See original here:
Confederate flag over courthouse sparks some disagreement

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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