The punishment was based on three allegations.  The first was that Mr. Smith wore an offensive hat to work.  Mr. Smith admits that he wore a cap to work that had the logo of the Sons of Confederate Veterans on it.  Smith is a member of an Augusta, Georgia SCV Camp.  He had worn the same cap many times before and had never heard any complaints.  Smith denies, however, that the logo is offensive.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans is an international heritage organization composed of the descendants of veterans of the Confederate States of America.  The logo incorporates an image of a square Confederate battle flag.  Mr. Smith contends that the Confederate flag on his hat is a venerated symbol of his Confederate Southern American ancestry.

The second allegation is vague.  It simply states, “Richard was involved in two previous incidents both related to infringement of an individual’s rights to working a harassment free work environment.”  In referring to this, the lawsuit asserts that “on information and belief Smith thinks the Defendant is referring to his display of the state flag of Georgia (which also incorporates the Confederate battle flag into its design) in his office and to the presence of a jar of barbeque sauce and a box of crackers that agents of the Defendant objected to on the grounds that said food products were racially divisive.”

Allegedly lambasting the human resources representative and shouting profanity is the basis for the third complaint.  Again, Mr. Smith denies that the interchange was anywhere near so dramatic.  He responded to this saying, “Yes I was upset and concerned and I asked that [the HR representative’s] demand be put in writing, but I was in no way indignant.”

Attorney Kirk D. Lyons, chief trial counsel for the Southern Legal Resource Center remarked that, “I am stunned to think that one's choice of food and drink would be used as a pretext for placing an employee on probation.”  “If food products,” he continued “can be labeled as ‘racially divisive’ then no object or idea is safe from those people who hate Southern heritage.”  "Southern workers might want to go ahead and remove moon pies, RC Cola and KFC from their work stations if they don't want to be in the unemployment line!" Lyons added.

H.K. Edgerton, former Asheville, NC president of the NAACP and current member of the board of directors of the SLRC is currently conducting a “March Across Dixie” to raise awareness about issues such as this.  When he found out that a man was on probation for, among other things, having a box of Winn-Dixie Georgia crackers and a bottle of Maurice’s BBQ sauce, Mr. Edgerton said, “It’s a sad day in the Southland of America when a man has to watch what food he buys to avoid being called a racist.  Who ever heard of racist food products?”

The Southern Legal Resource Center, Inc. is a non-profit South Carolina public law firm that advocates civil rights for Confederate Southern Americans.

For more information about HK's March Across Dixie contact: http://www.southerncaucus.org/hkedgerton.htm

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