Posted on 03/01/2005 12:44:39 PM PST by stainlessbanner
ALLOUEZ, Wis. - Norm Watermolen has no plans to take down the Confederate flag he flies outside his shopping center, despite angry phone calls, letters and two thefts of flags.
The American history enthusiast said the replica flag, which flies alongside 17 historically significant flags, is an important part of the country's history, regardless of its association with the Ku Klux Klan and the effort to deny civil rights to blacks.
"I just don't see what all the trouble is," said Watermolen, 78. "Just because somebody decided years ago that it represented the Ku Klux Klan, and to some people in the South and here, it still does. But it's a significant part of our history, one that should be remembered."
Rita Drewieske, of Allouez, disagrees.
"I just find it so offensive," said Drewieske, whose daughter is black. "The flag keeps being taken, so I must not be the only one offended by it."
Watermolen created a flag plaza to display his collection of 18 historically significant flags at his Heritage Village Shoppes, an historically themed retail center. Twenty others at the center represent nations whose people immigrated to Brown County in the early 20th century.
After the second theft, he had the flag reinstalled with a hydraulic lift and padlocked, so it can't be taken unless someone shimmies up the pole and snatches it.
Ken Calewarts, who talked to Watermolen and wrote him a letter, said he had to complain about the flag to show his three children to speak up about things that are important to them.
Watermolen "legally has the right to fly the flag on his own property, and I agree with that. I don't think he's promoting (racism), but I think he's misguided. If he wants to make a statement of American history, I would respect him more if he flew it in front of his own home rather than in my neighborhood," said Calewarts, who is the Allouez village attorney, but spoke as a private citizen.
David Voelker, associate professor of humanistic studies and history at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, said when it was created, the Confederate flag was a symbol for a new nation the Southern states created when they seceded from the United States.
"They were certainly seceding in order to protect what they saw as states' rights, so there's no question there was that political principle at stake," Voelker said. "People have used the Confederate flag as a symbol of both slavery and racism. But historically people have used it as a symbol of states' rights - a symbol of pride in the independence of particular states. A freedom from oppression by a strong central government."
But Voelker said their number one concern was still slavery.
"They wanted to protect the institution of slavery, and they felt that the election of (President) Lincoln was a potential threat to the future of slavery," he said.
Peter Kellogg, chairman of the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the version of the Confederate flag typically flown now was not widely used until the 1950s and 1960s, when opposition to school desegregation peaked.
"Therefore its modern use is definitely a symbol of a fight against equal rights for black people. So it is fair to say it is a symbol of racism," Kellogg said.
But Audrey Thiry, who plans to move her salon and a gift shop into Heritage Village at the end of April, said she and her customers aren't concerned about the flag flap.
"Norm (Watermolen) is absolutely not a racist. He is a historian; he is fond of our history," she said. "My clients are thrilled that we are moving into 'the nice mall, the one with the flags.'"
dixieping
I bet Wisconsin would welcome a flag with Ward Churchill's picture on it.
"Watermolen"--I can only imagine the teasing this man and his family rec'd.
If they can't stand the sight of that flag in Wisconsin they'd be in hell if they ever visited a store in Gettysburg.
These people need to get a life.
Guess it's time to start running the Battle Flag and the Bonny Blue up the flagpole again :)
I hope he never lets his kids watch The Dukes of Hazzard. They'd be scarred for life!
My car's front plate is the Bonnie Blue.
It means something different, up here, bro'.
bump
You tell 'em Norm!!!!
So, are we to just remember history that feeeeeeels good?
Ain't that the truth.
I guarantee they would have no idea what the Bonny Blue flag is.
I hope they don't go P.C. in that Duke's movie they're making.
It was.
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