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HK, I've Got A Question For You

From: *Blindfaithiness* - blindfaithiness@gmail.com
Date: Mon, Sep 6, 2010
HK, I live in Asheville and I've even seen and waved at you while you were standing on a bridge near my house. I've got a question about confederate battle flags that I think you can answer for me. I'm sure you've heard by now that Sept. 12 is being named "Burn a Confederate Flag Day." Do you have any plans for the 12th? I'd like to know if you can help me to get a bunch of flags for the holiday. I'd prefer not to have to purchase flags myself and thought you may be able to donate some. If not, do you have any ideas on where I can find flags for burning.
Thanks and Happy Holiday. BF

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On Tue, Sep 7, 2010, Jeffrey Lovelace - jeffrey.lovelace@att.net wrote:
Dear Blind,
You must be an idiot. Surely, you don't think H.K. is going to provide you flags to burn. Neither he, nor any who are close to him would condone such sacrilege. You are obviously ignorant of the true meaning and purpose of the Confederate Battle Flag, as are most people of your type. Burn one if you will, burn two if it makes you happy, but remember in doing so that you will never be able to keep that proud banner down.
Col. J. H. Lovelace Founder, Battle of Asheville Commemorative Corps.

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On Wed, 9/8/10, Blindfaithiness - blindfaithiness@gmail.com wrote:
From: Blindfaithiness - blindfaithiness@gmail.com
To: "Jeffrey Lovelace" - jeffrey.lovelace@att.net
Date: Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Colonel, must I be? Am I an idiot if I think he will send me a flag or won't send me a flag. Your statements are jumbled and ambiguous. That being said, no, I didn't think that HK would send me a flag. He's a controversial figure here in Asheville and makes his email public. I asked him for flags as a symbolic gesture and to make him aware of this protest, if he didn't know about it already. Lets move on.
Why must I be "ignorant of the true meaning and purpose of the Confederate Battle Flag"? Because you say so? Am I ignorant to the meaning and purpose of the CSA during the war or ignorant to the meaning and purpose of why you guys play dress-up and wave it around now 145 years later? You only made a claim, you see, without telling me why. The other boys that are emailing me keep making the exact same "you must not understand what it stands for" claim, but not one has tried to say "what it stands for", except for one person that wrote, "They[flag] not only represent the only Christian nation left on Earth, but the flags themselves represent those that dies on the cross for Jesus name.
Andrew refused to be crucified like Christ - he said he was not worthy, so he made them crucify him sideways which is why the ST Andrews Cross (real name of the Battle Flag) has the cross the way it does and the CSA National flag also has it."(their color, not mine. From: c - carriet@verizon.net).
Is that what I should know according to you all? I don't think what Carrie wrote is entirely accurate(CSA battle flag uses "St. Andrews Cross" as an homage to Scottish heritage and not to represent those that "died on the cross"), so you should get the story straight.
Thanks for your support.
http://sites.google.com/site/burnrebelflagday/

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On Sat, Sep 11, 2010, Jeffrey Lovelace - jeffrey.lovelace@att.net wrote:
Dear Blind,
You have confirmed your status as an ignoramus of the first order. Your ability to conjure up issues we never raised in our e-mail is truly astonishing. As to the "Burning Day", such could only have been envisioned by people devoid of decency and good character. Your e-mail to H. K. Edgerton was tactless, sarcastic and insulting. H. K. is our friend and is only controversial because he is willing to stand up for historical principles that certain others wish to hide, ignore or obliterate.
Before "moving on", why, do you think more historical reenactors in the U.S. and United Kingdom choose to portray Confederates rather than Yankees? Why is it that many Northern reenactment units have a Confederate impression as well? The Confederate regiment to which my captain belonged frequently portrayed an alternative Union regiment. This is done because the "Rebels" are seen as valiant underdogs, and it is sometimes necessary to portray the "other side" to better accurately teach the history they do when they "dress up and wave their flags around".
Though you are unlikely to actually learn anything from what follows, we will attempt to answer some of the questions you have asked or implied. And yes, you should believe all of it because we say so. Some of this information is deeper than your limited intellect will allow you to comprehend.
The "Confederate flag issue" began after the chaotic battle of First Manassas in 1861. Confederate commanders had much trouble identifying their units on the field because the First National flag (the true Stars and Bars) in use looked too much like the "Stars and Stripes" in the clouds of dust and smoke. This confusion prompted CS General Joe Johnston to order a design for a new flag for the Army of Northern Virginia. The result was the Battle Flag, an easily recognizable square banner. Today, most flags seen displayed around town and country are rectangular in form, which was actually the Naval Jack. The Battle Flag is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful flags ever devised.
As a device, the Battle Flag served the same purpose as every other battle flag throughout the centuries: to identify the position of units on the field and to mark a rallying point when necessary. It should be noted that some Confederate units in the Western theater of the war carried flags which consisted of a dark blue field with a white "moon" at the center (should these be burned too ?) Gen. Leonidas Polk's Corps battle flag for the Army of Tennessee bears the central device of the red cross of St. George, the national emblem of England. In addition to his role as a Major General, Polk was the Episcopal Bishop of Louisiana (burn his?) The "Missouri Battle Flag" had a blue field adorned by a white Roman cross near the hoist --- a Christian symbol (why not toss one of these on the pyre while you're at it?)
The Battle Flag, whatever its color and devices, became the embodiment of regimental pride. Confederate units often decorated their flags with the place-names of great victories, campaigns, or where heroic actions occurred --- like some other types of groups might display trophies for athletic prowess, championships, or scholastic or business achievement.
The "Southern Cross" was never the official national flag of the Confederacy. It was reserved solely for use by the armies, though a smaller version of it was incorporated into the 2nd National Flag in 1863. This flag today is nothing more and nothing less than a symbol of the proud deeds of the Southern soldier and of regional pride. The South is the only region of the U.S. to have its own flag, though it may be found flying or hanging from New England to Alaska. Many other subjugated nations in the world fly their once proud colors. Why should the South be any different? Like it or not, the South was an independent nation from 1861-1865, and Jefferson Davis never surrendered the Confederate government; Gen. Joe Shelby never surrendered his command. This bothers some people and it is clear that there exists an element that wants the Battle Flag erased from history, unless it suits their political purpose at any given moment --- like you, for example. A Southerner, George Washington of Virginia, led a group of rag-tag scarecrows to victory over an oppressive government that was infringing on its citizens' personal rights and economic welfare. In the hour of secession, Southerners saw themselves as the guardians of the Constitution and defenders of what the Founding Fathers had intended.
Thomas Cobb of Georgia led the charge to name the new Southern nation the Republic of Washington" because its founding represented a return to the principles of George Washington. This effort failed, but Washington was placed in the center of the Confederacy's new official Great Seal. Some Southerners argued to keep the Stars and Stripes as their national flag and felt it was the other side who should have to come up with another one. "Logically, the Union belongs to those who have kept, not those who have broken, its covenants," said Virginian Henry A. Wise in 1861. The North was the one who should have seceded, he argued, and if there was to be a fight over the issue, he was willing to join the fray with "the Star-spangled Banner in one hand and my musket in the other."
You see, when you strip away 145 years of historical varnish about the battle flag, what is revealed is that the philosophy of the Confederate South reflects the principles envisioned by our Founding Fathers. Special interest groups opposed to Confederate Heritage, and the Northern-controlled news media, have set out to define the meaning of the Confederate Battle Flag in their own terms --- few seek to define it in the only proper way, by considering what it means to the people whose values it represents: family, honor, courage, and liberty.
Our battle flag is not just a Southern, but an American, and an international symbol. Over the last few decades, the Sons of Confederate Veterans has received many requests, from former Eastern Block countries, for CS battle flags which they view as an appropriate symbol of their struggles for independence against totalitarian control. The flag was present when the Berlin wall came down, on independence day in Yugoslavia, ans at the height of Quebec's quest for independence from Canada. The flag is the centerpiece for the official Coat of Arms for the city of Vila Americana, Brazil.
A black man living in Chicago, whose home and business stand partly on ground formerly occupied by the notorious Camp Douglas, where over 6,000 imprisoned Confederates died, flies a battle flag in front of the funeral home he owns on Martin Luther King Drive. Though the recipient of numerous threats, he says "anyone who objects to this flag being here reveals that they are not knowledgeable about the history of the subject matter. That flag is not a symbol of hate. It is a symbol of respect for a dead human being. When 6,000 people died on the site where you live and eat and earn your daily bread and butter, if you have any humility within your being, you have regard for the people who died." Black Professor Edward Smith, Director of American Studies at American University in Washington, D.C., while speaking at a ceremony dedicating a Confederate monument and flag in Danville, Virginia, said that the complaints that the Confederate flag represents slavery and racism are "pure unadulterated nonsense." Indeed, the embattled banner can only be connected to racism when in the hands of those who would still espouse racist philosophy without a flag to wave. They too misunderstand the meaning and purpose of the battle flag and insult us when they sully it with their hands.
Our flag represents a struggle for liberty just as did the banners of our revolutionary forefathers, and the tricolor of revolutionary France in 1789. Anyone who uses the flag for any purpose which does not honor the Confederate dead or the vital culture from whence they came is desecrating a sacred symbol. At least five states, notably Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Georgia, have laws making the desecration of the flag a misdemeanor crime.
Now, we would be remiss to close without a mention of black Confederates: there were many. Some estimates conclude that at least 40,000-60,000 blacks willingly served the Confederate Army as combatants, bodyguards, sentries, hospital stewards, musicians, drummers, fifers, cooks, teamsters, laborers, buglers and wagon drivers. "Stonewall Jackson" had 3,000 black troops under arms at Antietam in 1862. Many "Black Rebels" captured Union black soldiers, ridiculing them as 'Lincolnites" before making them servants. Southern blacks volunteered for local militia units which helped defend Georgia and the capitol at Richmond, Virginia.
Neither I, nor my captain's, Confederate ancestors owned slaves. However, the captain's great-great grandfather and great-great uncle served with several black soldiers in the 36th N.C. Regiment, and artillery unit. Among these black Confederates were brothers Charles and Henry Dempsey, and Daniel Herring, all privates, and all combatants. Other black North Carolina Confederates include Private Everett Hayes, 10th N.C. Regiment; Privates Arthur and Miles Reed, 40th N.C. Regiment; and Private Henson Revels, 1st N.C. Battalion Heavy Artillery.
Why did these brave black men volunteer to risk their lives under the Confederate Battle Flag? Because they thought themselves Southerners first, and blacks, second. The Confederacy was their country too. You may be very sure that I and my captain would have joined the gray ranks to defend our state and the rights to which we are entitled. You may be certain also that we would proudly serve with H. K. Edgerton at our side in line of battle.
No writer has written so eloquently of the Confederate flags as has Devereaux D. Cannon Jr, so we will end with the epilogue from his most well known book. "The Confederate States of America died a violent death in the hands of invading armies in 1865, and thus it was proven" that secession was wrong, that no portion of the American people could elect a path of political self-determination so long as a more powerful section opposed them. The flags which represented the national aspirations of the Southern people were buried in the archives of the conquerers, until President Theodore Roosevelt had them returned to the people whose hopes had once been swaddled in their folds. During the time of obscurity the memory of them dimmed, and many errors have persisted about their design and usage. Over [145 years later], revisionists attempt to distort their meaning and place in history. The flags of the Confederacy represented the aspirations of the brave and resourceful people who determined to strike out on their own and carve their place among the nations of the earth. Their desire to live under a government based upon "the consent of the governed" should be respected; and their tenacity in attempting to preserve their chosen government, though in vain, must be admired. The people of the Confederate States of America earned for their flags an honored place among the sacred relics of human endeavor."
It has been said that the first casualty of war is truth. Such is the unfortunate case for the Confederacy and its flags. Anti-flaggers spew venom at the Southern Cross of the 1860's, and current state flags which contain any variation of it, without possessing a shred of insight into the history of the banner or the nature of the men who left their homes to fight under it. Surely one must note also, that the new Southern nation chose to retain of red, white, and blue, not wanting to depart from the brilliant hues which came to identify our young country as a whole.
Your effort to shame and disturb the tea-baggers is as absurd as it is disgraceful. They will pay no more attention to you than to an annoying little gnat, which will eventually be slapped flat. You people are misinformed and misguided in ways which tax the better angels of mens' nature.
NOT FOR USE WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM AUTHOR
Col. J. H. Lovelace Founder, Battle of Asheville Commemorative Corps.
Capt. M. P. Lorenz, Field and Staff

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From: Blindfaithiness
Date: Sun, Sep 12, 2010
To: Jeffrey Lovelace - jeffrey.lovelace@att.net
Thank you for the reply, Jeffery or Colonel or whatever other dress-up rank you like to go by. You continue to hurl insults, but you've shown no proof of any of the claims that you made about my intelligence or understanding of the subject. Also, you are either willfully ignorant or very naive if you think that HK isn't controversial. Sorry, but you don't get to decide what is are isn't controversial to others and the fact that HK embodies symbolic dress that many find distasteful or upsetting for a variety of reasons does mean that he is controversial. I believe you are most likely in a state of deep denial if you cannot grasp this simple point.
Will you be showing evidence that a "Burn the Confederate flag day" "could only have been envisioned by people devoid of decency and good character," as you claim? No, I bet you won't, because this, like all of your rant, is your personal opinion and an asinine claim that you have conjured to make yourself feel better.
Thanks for the mix of history and tales from the make-believe battlefront, too. Honestly, though, I couldn't care less about which side folks that like to play dress up choose. No offense and have fun pretending, but I'm not into reenactments. History is another matter. If you have some evidence that my " information is deeper than your limited intellect will allow you to comprehend," I'd love to see it. Until then, you appear to me to be just another angry guy that isn't confident enough in his recreational activities to simply let this go.
I am well aware of the history of the CSA and the flags that were carried during the war. You still have failed to answer what this flag stands for in the contemporary sense, which is what I asked repeatedly. To think that the modern "Confederate flag issue" started in 1861 shows your state of deep denial. Obviously, the debate is about the flag an its contemporary meaning. Your attempt to muddy the conversation due to your lack of understanding or fear of honest debate is noted, though.
HK sent my email out, instead of either ignoring me or answering me, and now every angry, hot-headed, insecure modern day "rebel" feels they should contact me to tell me some "fact" that is neither here nor there. What I'm saying, Jeffery, is that you've said nothing. You've made no point. You're arguing something and making claims that only serve to highlight your narrow-mindedness and apparent obsession with this topic.
I can't begin to tell you how much I've learned about HK and the company he keeps from this experience. Except for a few exceptions, HK's supporters have been threatening, fanatical, and, as is in your case, completely out of touch with the varied opinions and controversies involving the CSA battle flag. You seem to be living in a proverbial "Confederacy vacuum."
Anyway, if you want to have a discussion, I am willing to listen to your thoughts, but spare me the rants and accusations. Those behaviors are childish and petty. I really am disappointed to read, what I assume to be, a fellow Ashevillian acting in such a way in the effort to. . . well. . . I'm not sure what you're trying to do or why you even contacted me in the first place. Oh, thats right, you wanted to throw a temper-tantrum so I can see just how irrational you can be. Well, I'm not impressed.
Work on your manners and I'll be much more inclined to here your thoughts and concerns.
Respectfully
BF

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From: rneufeld@charter.net
Date: Sun, Sep 12, 2010
To: "H. K. Edgerton" - hk.edgerton@gmail.com, Blindfaithiness - blindfaithiness@gmail.com
Dear BF,
I believe I have been included in this e-mail exchange because, in my history writing, I have supported Jeff�s efforts to describe, in a high level of detail, the Battle of Asheville. Also, I know of many reasons to appreciate the Confederate flag. I agree with you that it is controversial, but it�s not baseless.
First, would you mind identifying yourself, as Jeff and I do? I think the anonymity of the Internet is one aspect of the decline of civility in society.
Second, why are you responding as if jabbed in a wound? Have you had some bad experiences related to Confederate flag issues? It would help if we could communicate frankly.
Obviously, the involvement of many parts of the South with slavery and the legacy of racism that followed Reconstruction are stigmas.
But now, consider much else.
Most soldiers who fought for the Confederacy did not do so to defend slavery. That may have been the major cause of the war, but not the major reason of the soldiers. Confederate boys fought to defend their homeland; bring honor to their families; and battle the feared imperialism of the North. Many, many people living in our region today have ancestors who died and suffered in what they waged as an honorable fight. You can�t expect people to deny their ancestry, especially when their ancestors were good, honest fellows.
Over the years, especially with the efforts of the UDC, the Confederate flag has come to stand for Southern values, honoring ancestors, and the development of history texts that address the bias of Northern text books. At the same time, the flag has been appropriated for many other things, including a rebel attitude that combines Southern roots with feelings of class resentment.
The rhetoric you�ve been using fuels resentment. Do you have another voice you use?
At any rate, the issue of the flag is complicated. There needs to be a symbol of Southern heritage, I believe. What else is there besides the flag for that purpose? Yet, it is a flash point, as your pointed lighter confirms.
Keep in mind that all flags are stained with atrocities. Do you forbid the U.S. flag in your house because of the genocide perpetrated against the American Indians by the U.S. Army?
I hope this has helped.
Yours/Rob
--
Rob Neufeld