Posted on 12/01/2008 11:13:21 AM PST by fella
Motel's choice of flag upsetting to some
by Kyle Mooty Madison County Record Editor
The owners of a Huntsville motel insist their decision to replace the United States flag with a Confederate flag following Barack Obama's victory last week in the Presidential election had nothing to do with race.
In a written statement to The Record, the owners of the Faubus Motel did say that the reason for the change in flags was politically driven.
The motel is not associated with its former owner, Alta Faubus, who sold the motel in the 1980's. It has been owned by James and Linda Vandiver since 1996.
Ellen Kreth and Fara Faubus, Alta Faubus' grandchildren and owners of The Madison County Record, stated that they have no association with the Faubus Motel and do not agree with the Vandivers' political views or the flying of the Confederate flag at the motel.
A Fayetteville television station reported the motel's choice of flags following Obama's victory. The station inserted interviews from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Secretary of State Colin Powell into the story, talking about the historical significance of Obama being elected.
Some neighbors of the motel have complained to The Record and to the TV station of what the flag symbolizes.
James Vandiver said he had flown the flag before and that he had not heard any negative comments, then said he would only respond to questions in a written statement. The Vandivers issued the following statement to The Record on Tuesday morning:
"On election night, we lowered Old Glory from our flag pole because we are no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave (except for our military)," the letter stated. "The sound principals for which Old Glory stood have been abandoned. We raised the rebel flag of the Old South in protest. Since political correctness forces people into a limited frame of reference, we wish to say this loud and clear, this was not about race. We resent having a Marxist in the White House no matter color he is. If Mr. Obama had tried to enter the White House as an ordinary citizen, he would not qualify for a security clearance because of his past associations. We decided if Obama can refuse to properly salute the flag and his buddy, Bill Ayers, could stand on the American flag in a trash-filled alley, then we could take Old Glory down in honor and respect.
"We are angry with a biased, agenda-driven media. We are angry that for the past eight years President Bush and the Republican Party have been blamed by the Democrats and their cohorts in the media for the incomplete and irresponsible way that the group A.C.O.R.N. let down potential voters in the state of Florida in 2000. A.C.O.R.N. has used our tax dollars to carry out, contrary to the law, a partisan "get out the vote" effort of scandalous proportions. The other arm of this nefarious organization bullies and harasses banks and lending institutions to make the risky loans that have jeopardized our nation's financial security. We are outraged that the Democrats, who portray themselves as the great defenders of the night to vote, did not feel compelled to ensure the rights of our military to be guaranteed their full privileges during the election.
"Old Glory is still displayed on our American owned and operated sign. So far, the response from our clientele has been supportive and positive."
Huntsville Mayor Larry Bates had not heard of the motel's choice in flags until Monday.
"I don't have any comment other than to each his own," Bates said. "I wouldn't tell Jim not to do it. It's strictly up to him. It's on his property. The city won't be flying (a Confederate flag)." The motel, located next to Pizza Hut, has a standing sign in front of its offices that reads "American Owned and Operated."
Jessie Bryant, an African-American from Fayetteville who is ending a 14-year run as a member of the Washington County Quorum Court, grew up through the segregation era. Bryant, born in 1926, was asked about her reaction to the Confederate flag being flown at the Huntsville motel.
"It's just his way of expressing his dislike for what happened. If that's his way of protesting what happened, he has the right," Bryant said. "He has the privilege of changing the flag. It's his way of expressing how he feels. It's obviously a dilemma with him. He feels a little bit of his heritage has been taken away, which is not true at all. In America, he still has the same privileges of anybody else. There is nothing we can say or do about it."
Bryant's son, Arkansas State Trooper Louis Bryant, was killed by Wayne Snell during a traffic stop in 1984 on U.S. Highway 71 between De Queen and Texarkana. That stretch of highway is now known as the Trooper Louis Bryant Highway.
Probably not. But the ideology sure did.
That's what we fly.
Although I did see this one on the net that cracks me up:
Thought you might get a kick out of the above flag.
That's not your call Rap and you're also wrong about what it stood for. This is America and you damn well need to learn the rules.
Well, thank you for enlightening me. I am grateful.
BTW, are you familiar with Walter Williams, black columnist/author/historian?
http://townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams#ColumnistBio
And for YOUR reading pleasure, “The Civil War Wasn’t About Slavery”.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/williams120298.asp
Don’t be too hasty in disproving your fellow Freeper, sir.
Quite so..
Some will be flying the American flag upside down on January 20th..
I think a better response might be to fly the Betsy Ross Flag to show loyalty to the ideals of our Revolution. You make the same point without the baggage of the CSA flag.
I like to break out the Cornerstone speech on these ‘let’s continue to fight the Civil War, which was not about slavery at all’ threads, as it does lend some perspective about what the actual actors in the drama were thinking. That’s how I was taught to learn history, read what the contemporaries were saying and reading at the time the events happened.
Walter Williams was not there. Alexander Stephens was. In a position of authority in the Confederacy, and surely well equipped to speak of how it came into being and what its philosophical underpinnings (its cornerstone, if you will) were.
No intent to disprove (which is hard to do given we are all spouting opinion), just want to inject some contemporary words into the record.
The thing about reasonable people is we agree to disagree.
not really as the south was opening trade routes and the north did not want the south to do that because of tax
that was the whole reason why the war started not the PC crap of slavery
do not forgot that the native Americans fought for the south , for their homeland and their way which was being threatened by the north
correct
the flag was designed to distinguish the two sides.
the stars and bars was too close in sight to the northern flag and so in battle there were cases where men got confused and one battle where they started to kill each other
my flag is up in st Augustine Florida and flying proudly and if anyone who moves down here is insulted then they have the option of going back on I-95 north .
People fought and died for that flag and I will not take it down to the PC crowd or anyone else who is just too thick to understand their history
Have you looked at Lincolns speeches , looked at some of the generals writings from the union, especially one General sherman who hated blacks , plus the union soldiers who came back to NY and had the biggest race riot in this country because they saw blacks doing jobs they had
racism was on both sides and still is, left and right, north and south rich and poor.
And the Confederate flag is used by untlold numbers as a direct representation of segregation/racism/fill-in-the-blank and seen by millions of people the same way.
What is accomplished by that? Perpetuating some arcane argument about “States Rights”?
correct
to take two quotes and base entire war is just silly.
Lincoln was no fan of the black person neither was sherman
so sad to think that most people now in the north and I have lived there actually think it was over slavery.
Could you imagine Lincoln saying to the north at the beginning, boys we’;re going to invade the south to save those Negro’s.
some how I think not a lot of union soldiers would have come south.
No Lincoln even said he had no intention to free slaves nor was it his desire to do so and nor did he think he had the power, course after years he changed his mind and freed slaves in the south and not in the border or northern states
slightly off topic but have you ever noticed how the supposed reconstruction was or never is talked about.
white people in New Orleans were unable to vote for 10 years and the blacks were the police who ruled and were allowed to vote, white women in the south raped, families had their land taken away, southerners killed because they sung their songs or flew their flag etc etc etc.
funny how the war crimes and crimes after are never mentioned.
If they were maybe some of those liberals would know how some feel in the south , how people of today had their ancestors land taken away from them from carpetbaggers etc
all because DC wanted the souths tax’s and it still hasn’t changed.
“What is accomplished by that? Perpetuating some arcane argument about States Rights?”
Hardly an “arcane” notion.
DMZ and I have acknowledged that we are all expressing our own opinions, based on whatever drives us.
What drives me is
(1) my sensitivity to the slavery idea because my ancestors were land owners and, therefore, slave owners.
(2) I feel strongly that slavery was a mistake 100+ years ago and CERTAIN FOLKS need to quit using it as an excuse for their failures today.
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