Confederate flag exhibit sparks final protest

 
Heritage group calls art display a 'hate crime'
By Scott Paida
Daily Record/Sunday News

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - They haven’t had much to be happy about for the past few weeks, but the Sons of Confederate Veterans were plenty pleased on Saturday.

Members of the southern heritage group led an enthusiastic demonstration outside the American Civil War Museum in Gettysburg as a final show of unity before a controversial art exhibit closes at Gettysburg College today.

The group has been up in arms since that exhibit, John Sims’ “Recoloration Proclamation: The Gettysburg Redress,” opened on Sept. 3, saying it disrespects those who fought and died for the Confederacy.

The exhibit includes a depiction of a Confederate flag being hung from a gallows in a piece called “The Proper Way to Hang a Confederate Flag.”

On Saturday, a group of around 50-60 people responded with what they said is the truly proper way to hang the flag.

The crowd watched as demonstrators unfurled a giant 40-foot by 40-foot flag and saluted it.

“This is a celebration,” said Michael Dominiak, commander of the Pennsylvania Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. “It’s the end of the flag desecration at Gettysburg College.”

Saturday’s program included remarks by a few speakers, including Henry Kidd, commander of the Army of Northern Virginia division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Kidd said he was saddened by his experiences on Sept. 3, when the heritage group came to town to protest the opening of the exhibit.

“I love Gettysburg and every time I come here I hate to leave,” Kidd told the crowd. “But on September 4, for the first time, I couldn’t wait to get out of Gettysburg.”

Kidd went on to say that supporters of southern heritage should not let their feelings about the exhibit rest just because it is closing.

“It is a hate crime,” Kidd said. “And we will not stand idly by and watch a hate crime be committed against our ancestors.”

Dominiak said the heritage group, which he said has around 35,000 members nationwide, plans to continue supporting a boycott of Gettysburg College, but not of the borough.

“The businesses here understand what we’re all about,” Dominiak said, noting that many have displayed notes of support for the group.

Dominiak said the heritage group also wants the college, not borough taxpayers, to pay for around $35,000 in security costs associated with the exhibit’s opening on Sept. 3.

Tammy Myers, general manager of the American Civil War Museum, said the museum allowed the group to hold its demonstration there because the museum feels it is appropriate to allow more than one point of view on the Civil War to be expressed.

“How can you tell a history if you only tell a part of it?” Myers said.

Reach Scott Paida at 771-2044 or spaida@ydr.com.

© September 26, 2004, Daily Record.

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