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Main Page Confederate group plans giant flag in Hillsborough County
(Click here to view the original thread on the MassCops Message Board)

Posted by: kwflatbed

By Jessica Vander Velde

TAMPA — Next year, a giant Confederate flag may tower above the tree line near the junction of Interstate 75 and Interstate 4.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans wants drivers in the Tampa area to see the massive flag — 30 feet high and 50 feet long — atop a 139-foot pole, the highest the Federal Aviation Authority would allow. It would be lit at night.
With the pole already in the ground and building permits in hand, the group is on its way to having what it calls the "world's largest" Confederate flag in place by mid 2009. The group just needs about $30,000 more, said Douglas Dawson, Florida division commander.
Several nearby business owners don't mind. It's history, they say, and it's on private property. Tampa resident Marion Lambert owns the small triangular plot just west of Interstate 75 along U.S. 92 E.
But when Hillsborough County NAACP president Curtis Stokes heard about the plans to have the flag flying next year, he was shocked.
"I'm surprised that they would allow something like this to go on in Hillsborough County," he said.
The county has wrestled with sensitive Confederate issues in the past. In 1994, the Confederate flag was removed from the county seal. Last year, county commissioners recognized Confederate commander Robert E. Lee on the same day they honored a black civic leader. Commissioners later apologized and haven't since recognized Lee.
It's the commissioners' responsibility to make sure plans don't move forward, Stokes said. The flag would send the wrong message about the county and it would be embarrassing because many visitors use the roads, he said.
Code enforcement officers won't be able to stop the project because flags were removed from county sign regulations in 2004. County Commissioner Kevin White, whose district includes the flagpole site, could not be reached for comment Friday.
Plans for the flag, which is part of a memorial for Confederate veterans, started about four years ago, said John W. Adams, a Deltona resident who co-chairs the Confederate Veterans' Flags Across Florida project.
Flags Across Florida started about eight years ago, after the Confederate flag was removed from the Capitol in Tallahassee. So far the group has two major flags erected: one in Suwannee County along Interstate 75 and one in Havana along U.S. 27.
Adams insists the flag isn't about racism or slavery. "It's about honoring our ancestors and about celebrating our heritage," he said. "It's a historical thing to us."
He hopes people who are offended by the flag will drive to the memorial and view the plaques honoring Confederate soldiers. They plan to have one dedicated to black Confederate veterans, he said.
Mitch McDonald, the general manager of a nearby crane rental business, said he won't mind the flag. "The bigger, the better," he said.
But he's worried that it might offend a black employee of his, who was angered by the sighting of a Confederate flag on an earlier assignment.
Ted Meyer, who owns a nearby boat business, said he is concerned customers will think it's his flag because the properties are adjacent. His wife, Maxine Meyer, is upset by the plans. "I've got a lot of black customers," she said.
Dawson, the Sons of Confederate Veterans' Florida commander, said he knows a giant Confederate flag flying 24 hours a day over two of the Tampa area's busiest roads will cause controversy.
"We can't do anything but explain to people what the truth is," said Dawson, of Pensacola. "If they don't want to accept that, they're closed-minded, and Jesus Christ couldn't change it."
Times staff writers Andrew Meacham and Michael Van Sickler and Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Jessica Vander Velde can be reached at jvandervelde@sptimes.com or (813) 661-2443.

As long as a semi
The Confederate flag would stretch the length of a semitrailer, planners say.

>>fast facts
Who is the Sons of Confederate Veterans?
The Sons of Confederate Veterans is a national organization founded in 1896 that bills itself as a "historical, patriotic and nonpolitical organization dedicated to ensuring that a true history of the 1861 to 1865 period is preserved." It's open to male descendants of Confederate veterans.
The Florida division of the group has more than 1,500 members, according to its Web site. The group supported the proposed Confederate Heritage license plate, which did not pass this legislative session.

.fast facts
Who are the Sons of Confederate Veterans?
The Sons of Confederate Veterans is a national organization founded in 1896 that bills itself as a "historical, patriotic and non-political organization dedicated to ensuring that a true history of the 1861 to 1865 period is preserved." It's open to male descendants of Confederate veterans.
The Florida division of the group has more than 1,500 members, according to its Web site. They supported the proposed Confederate Heritage license plate, which did not pass this legislative session.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/humanin...e551722.ece?75

Posted by: Hb13

I've been in countless arguments with my friends over confederate flags. I have alot of books and other items on the civil war and one of the things was a dual flag holder that held an American flag and the Confederate flag. One of my friends saw it once and said that I was racist, which kinda hurt my feelings and started a pretty long argument. My father has a bumper sticker I bought him at Antietam that has a Confederate flag and beside the flag it says heritage not hate. I don't know who said it in the article but they're right the people who see a Confederate flag and freak out are closed minded naive. Granted the people who have Confederate flags on the vehicles because they think themselves "rednecks" or have them to be different are for the lack of a better term stupid.
I'm not really sure where I was going with this, I will stop ranting now.

Posted by: Wolfman

I guess some flags are just more politically correct than others...

Welcome to Amerika, comrade. We will tell you what is good and bad.

Posted by: Tuna

This group reeks of klan

Posted by: Delta784

Everyone seems to forget the Civil War was mostly about state's rights, not slavery.

Posted by: kwflatbed

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuna

This group reeks of klan

Why does everyone associate the flag with the klan ?

There are many members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans
in New England that do shows and campouts just like the Union
troops.

F**K THE ACLU

Posted by: Tuna

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwflatbed

Why does everyone associate the flag with the klan ?

Because allmost every picture, of the klan, I see has the flag in it. Sort of like what the swastiker represents to the Jewish people. Why go out of your way to infuriate a group or individual when you allready know what type of reaction you will get. Just my 2 cents

Posted by: Wolfman

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuna

Like I said:

BTW, while I abhor the Nazis, today's neo-nazis and the way they ultimately perverted the swastika, when I see it in examples of Hindu culture I don't automatically connect Hindus with genocide. Those who fly the stars and bars as a tribute to their history and culture should not face such ignorant labeling.

Posted by: justanotherparatrooper

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuna

This group reeks of klan

You do know that there were blacks that fought FOR the Confederacy?

Posted by: celticsfan

The South will Rise Agin!

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