On Monday, October 19, 2015, the Greene County Commission will vote on a resolution to display the Confederate battle flag on the courthouse grounds. This motion, proposed by commissioner James “Buddy” Randolph, would have the Confederate flag take up an equal position alongside the American flag and state flag of Tennessee.
As concerned citizens, I urge you to speak out against Randolph's resolution. Take a stand for civil rights, social justice, and racial inclusion – don’t let a symbol of hate fly at a government building in Greene County, Tennessee!
More information: "Tennessee Official Explains Why He Wants to Bring Back Confederate Flag"
Here are three reasons why you should fight to keep the Confederate flag away from the courthouse.
1.) East Tennessee, Once Known as "Switzerland of America," was Mostly Pro-Union:
Commissioner Randolph has claimed the flag is an important part of our region’s heritage. At the outset of the Civil War, however, an overwhelming majority of East Tennessee's population rejected the Confederacy.
In 1861, as Middle and West Tennessee opted to secede, Greeneville became the epicenter of an astounding surge in pro-union activism. On June 17, inside the Greene County courthouse, the East Tennessee Convention gathered to draft a request to remain tied to the north. Their plea was declined. And, for the next four years, Confederate forces were garrisoned in towns and cities across the eastern half of Tennessee.
If Old Glory is unfurled in Greeneville, it would honor the memory of the invasion and subsequent occupation of East Tennessee by the Confederacy. Is that a heritage we want to celebrate?
More information: "East Tennessee's Unruly Unionists"
2.) The Confederate Flag is a Logo for Hate Groups:
The Confederate flag, prior the rise of modern white supremacist organizations, was often evoked to commemorate soldiers who died in battle.
Nevertheless, by the mid-twentieth century, the flag had shifted firmly into the territory of hate groups.
The Ku Klux Klan, for example, began to place a renewed emphasis on the flag in the fifties and sixties, largely in defiance of federal desegregation.
Similarly, in 1948, the flag became a symbol of the States' Rights Democratic Party (the "Dixiecrats"), a breakaway faction of the Democratic Party formed to oppose the civil rights movement.
More recently, when a young white gunman killed nine people at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, he was photographed holding a Confederate flag on his website.
It is difficult to remove the "stars and bars" from its controversial historical and political background. For the last one hundred and fifty years, the flag has been consistently connected to a politics of extreme prejudice and senseless, racially motivated violence. Is this an ideology we want to confer status to at our courthouse?
More information: "The Complicated Political History of the Confederate Flag"
3.) The Courthouse is a Public Institution Where Everyone Should Feel Safe:
While it's legal for one to display a Confederate flag at home or in public, it's an absolute disgrace for a court of law to fly the flag on its premises.
The courthouse is a center that must treat everyone – regardless of race, religion, gender, and income – with the respect and dignity they deserve.
To many, the flag radiates an aura of racial bias. It shocks. It intimidates. And, if placed at the doorstep of a public institution, it makes people of color (like myself) feel as though officials perceive them as less than fully human.
We are better than this, Greene County. Stop Randolph's Resolution. Raise Your Voice, Block the Flag.
Updates
October 19, 2015
I honestly did not think this would gain this much steam when I started typing it out in a total panic late at night. It is wild to see so many people actually caring about what happens to our courthouse grounds even if I am still trying to process how we got to this point so quickly.
Reached 100 supporters
October 19, 2015
56 Comments
This flag is so hurtful to people of color. I hate having to explain the black and white children that this flag flew over a rebellious south that enslaved black people and tortured them. The flag is also not historically accurate as Greene county was with the Union
As a local of Greeneville, I do not want to be represented in this way! The flag is a symbol of hatred and oppression to many. Let's not make people who refer to us as "backward" and "racist" seem right! Tax dollars should not go toward something so many locals disagree with.
The confederate flag has no place on a court house, particularly in an area that opposed the secession. I find the fact a county commissioner here wants to put it there embarrassing. I do not want my hometown in the news for something like this - it is ignorant at best.
If it offends people and it wasn't even a thought to put it up until the big controversy about it in SC why put it up now? To offend people?
Not a single true Southerner like myself is proud of this flag and the "heritage" that it stands for. There is no reason to raise it now, especially when so many states have already removed it out of respect for all citizens, not just racist Southerners.
YEP better than YOU..... YOU are a RACIST.... how does it FEEl... again RACISM.. is one group of people saying to the other group you cant believe in this. you cant dispay your believes.. Greeneville should be better and LET IT GO.... LET the people VOTE. according to POLL more wanted the flag than NOT!!! IT should be the PEOPLES decision and the majority rules.. READ history.... Greeneville was divided. half confederate half union.. but the powers that be.. Mayor. alderman was going make a pact with the confederate side. but the PEOPLE won on that one... but again THE PEOPLE today should be aloud to vote on THIS.. I for one. dont care either way... that is what the rest of you should saying .... but NO... have to bring racism to the town.. THE ones whom are protesing against by definition are the racists.... YOU cant call me a racist just because I like the flag, and want to honor my heritage and ancestors .... I wasnt born in the 60`s and I dont HATE blacks. hell Ive dated few NICE black ladies... a racist is someone whom hates blacks.. or says a group cant do this or that.. way I see it ,the people whom dont want the flag is the racists ...... plain and simple RACISM...
So all those who died .. .Died in vien?? some of you people WOULD not be here if the war didnt happen ,ever thought of that.. maybe one of your great grandfathers was saved from being KILLED. by a union soldier.. and you wouldnt be alive today.... YOU people need read history the FLAG was wasnt used as Hate until idiots in the 60s.... 90% of the confederate soldiers were fighting for a cause.. they didnt KNOW it was slavery.. added in to that. they only KNEW there land and farms were going to be taken.. so they FOUGHT.. they wasnt told it was slavery too. they was told to fight so they did.. the flag honors them black and whites... and you call people racist cause they believe it that ... Racism is preventing a group from doing something they believe in... do you NOT understand YOU saying the people cant believe the flag is positive and display it IS YOU BEING a racist.. you have become what you are calling Others... LET IT GO.. its AMERICA.. we believe it to honor our dead and history.. thats OUR RIGHT...... you believe and still wanna live in the 60s thats your right.. .BUT RACISM will keep going aslong as people protest this.. LET IT GO.. say hey we dont care.. let them fly it... and we will fly our rainbow flag, our black pride flag,,,,,,, then boom RACISM is GONE..
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On Monday, October 19, 2015, the Greene County Commission will vote on a resolution to display the Confederate battle flag on the courthouse grounds. This motion, proposed by commissioner James “Buddy” Randolph, would have the Confederate flag take up an equal position alongside the American flag and state flag of Tennessee.
As concerned citizens, I urge you to speak out against Randolph's resolution. Take a stand for civil rights, social justice, and racial inclusion – don’t let a symbol of hate fly at a government building in Greene County, Tennessee!
More information: "Tennessee Official Explains Why He Wants to Bring Back Confederate Flag"
Here are three reasons why you should fight to keep the Confederate flag away from the courthouse.
1.) East Tennessee, Once Known as "Switzerland of America," was Mostly Pro-Union:
Commissioner Randolph has claimed the flag is an important part of our region’s heritage. At the outset of the Civil War, however, an overwhelming majority of East Tennessee's population rejected the Confederacy.
In 1861, as Middle and West Tennessee opted to secede, Greeneville became the epicenter of an astounding surge in pro-union activism. On June 17, inside the Greene County courthouse, the East Tennessee Convention gathered to draft a request to remain tied to the north. Their plea was declined. And, for the next four years, Confederate forces were garrisoned in towns and cities across the eastern half of Tennessee.
If Old Glory is unfurled in Greeneville, it would honor the memory of the invasion and subsequent occupation of East Tennessee by the Confederacy. Is that a heritage we want to celebrate?
More information: "East Tennessee's Unruly Unionists"
2.) The Confederate Flag is a Logo for Hate Groups:
The Confederate flag, prior the rise of modern white supremacist organizations, was often evoked to commemorate soldiers who died in battle.
Nevertheless, by the mid-twentieth century, the flag had shifted firmly into the territory of hate groups.
The Ku Klux Klan, for example, began to place a renewed emphasis on the flag in the fifties and sixties, largely in defiance of federal desegregation.
Similarly, in 1948, the flag became a symbol of the States' Rights Democratic Party (the "Dixiecrats"), a breakaway faction of the Democratic Party formed to oppose the civil rights movement.
More recently, when a young white gunman killed nine people at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, he was photographed holding a Confederate flag on his website.
It is difficult to remove the "stars and bars" from its controversial historical and political background. For the last one hundred and fifty years, the flag has been consistently connected to a politics of extreme prejudice and senseless, racially motivated violence. Is this an ideology we want to confer status to at our courthouse?
More information: "The Complicated Political History of the Confederate Flag"
3.) The Courthouse is a Public Institution Where Everyone Should Feel Safe:
While it's legal for one to display a Confederate flag at home or in public, it's an absolute disgrace for a court of law to fly the flag on its premises.
The courthouse is a center that must treat everyone – regardless of race, religion, gender, and income – with the respect and dignity they deserve.
To many, the flag radiates an aura of racial bias. It shocks. It intimidates. And, if placed at the doorstep of a public institution, it makes people of color (like myself) feel as though officials perceive them as less than fully human.
We are better than this, Greene County. Stop Randolph's Resolution. Raise Your Voice, Block the Flag.
Updates
October 19, 2015
I honestly did not think this would gain this much steam when I started typing it out in a total panic late at night. It is wild to see so many people actually caring about what happens to our courthouse grounds even if I am still trying to process how we got to this point so quickly.
Reached 100 supporters
October 19, 2015
56 Comments
East Tennessee and Greene County in particular were PRO UNION during the Civil War! If anything that flag is a stain on this area because many East Tennesseans suffered greatly under Confederate occupation!
This flag is so hurtful to people of color. I hate having to explain the black and white children that this flag flew over a rebellious south that enslaved black people and tortured them. The flag is also not historically accurate as Greene county was with the Union
As a local of Greeneville, I do not want to be represented in this way! The flag is a symbol of hatred and oppression to many. Let's not make people who refer to us as "backward" and "racist" seem right! Tax dollars should not go toward something so many locals disagree with.
The confederate flag has no place on a court house, particularly in an area that opposed the secession. I find the fact a county commissioner here wants to put it there embarrassing. I do not want my hometown in the news for something like this - it is ignorant at best.
If it offends people and it wasn't even a thought to put it up until the big controversy about it in SC why put it up now? To offend people?
Not a single true Southerner like myself is proud of this flag and the "heritage" that it stands for. There is no reason to raise it now, especially when so many states have already removed it out of respect for all citizens, not just racist Southerners.
YEP better than YOU..... YOU are a RACIST.... how does it FEEl... again RACISM.. is one group of people saying to the other group you cant believe in this. you cant dispay your believes.. Greeneville should be better and LET IT GO.... LET the people VOTE. according to POLL more wanted the flag than NOT!!! IT should be the PEOPLES decision and the majority rules.. READ history.... Greeneville was divided. half confederate half union.. but the powers that be.. Mayor. alderman was going make a pact with the confederate side. but the PEOPLE won on that one... but again THE PEOPLE today should be aloud to vote on THIS.. I for one. dont care either way... that is what the rest of you should saying .... but NO... have to bring racism to the town.. THE ones whom are protesing against by definition are the racists.... YOU cant call me a racist just because I like the flag, and want to honor my heritage and ancestors .... I wasnt born in the 60`s and I dont HATE blacks. hell Ive dated few NICE black ladies... a racist is someone whom hates blacks.. or says a group cant do this or that.. way I see it ,the people whom dont want the flag is the racists ...... plain and simple RACISM...
So all those who died .. .Died in vien?? some of you people WOULD not be here if the war didnt happen ,ever thought of that.. maybe one of your great grandfathers was saved from being KILLED. by a union soldier.. and you wouldnt be alive today.... YOU people need read history the FLAG was wasnt used as Hate until idiots in the 60s.... 90% of the confederate soldiers were fighting for a cause.. they didnt KNOW it was slavery.. added in to that. they only KNEW there land and farms were going to be taken.. so they FOUGHT.. they wasnt told it was slavery too. they was told to fight so they did.. the flag honors them black and whites... and you call people racist cause they believe it that ... Racism is preventing a group from doing something they believe in... do you NOT understand YOU saying the people cant believe the flag is positive and display it IS YOU BEING a racist.. you have become what you are calling Others... LET IT GO.. its AMERICA.. we believe it to honor our dead and history.. thats OUR RIGHT...... you believe and still wanna live in the 60s thats your right.. .BUT RACISM will keep going aslong as people protest this.. LET IT GO.. say hey we dont care.. let them fly it... and we will fly our rainbow flag, our black pride flag,,,,,,, then boom RACISM is GONE..
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East Tennessee and Greene County in particular were PRO UNION during the Civil War! If anything that flag is a stain on this area because many East Tennesseans suffered greatly under Confederate occupation!