PRESS RELEASE:  Kirk D. Lyons 828-669-5189
27 May 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ennis, Texas Polka Festival Bans
Confederate Heritage Group

The William H. Parsons Camp, #415 Sons of Confederate Veterans of Ennis had requested a craft booth to sell Confederate t-shirts and memorabilia in the co9ncession area.

The Camp was refused by Bill Sanders, President and CEO of the Ennis Chamber of Commerce because he "didn't want anything Confederate in the festival."

According to Sanders, Ennis City Manager Steve Howardton concurred in the decision to refuse a booth to the Confederate group.

The Executive Committee of the Ennis Chamber of Commerce, chaired by Brian Holly, voted last night to continue the ban.

"This is outrageous!", said Chad Weldon Commander of the Parsons Camp.  "We are your neighbor, your business associate, we sit next to you in Church, our kids play with your kids.  We do not deserve this treatment simply because we refuse to spit on the graves of our ancestors - we wanted to participate so we could honor the many Czechs who served the Confederacy from Texas," Weldon added.

To highlight the bigotry and hypocrisy of the Ennis ban Confederate heritage supporters from around Texas have been invited to come in uniform and bring their Confederate flags on Saturday.  The non-disruptive presence of the flag carriers was worked out between the Southern Legal Resource Center and the Ennis City Attorney.

"If they thought 1 Confederate flag on 1 booth was bad, let's see how the Chamber and City like 100 Confederate flags scattered all over town," said Parson Camp member Rob Jones, a local attorney and former Judge.

Claiming a tactical victory in spite of the ban, the Camp has secured an excellent and highly visible site near the festival activities to place their booth.  "Festival attendees will not be able to miss us, or our flag," added Jones.

"We know that the Chamber and bureaucrats do not speak for the majority of Ennis citizens and festival attendees, who would welcome the Sons of Confederate Veterans to the festival with the Confederate flag, but now that the city oligarchy has made an issue of it, we will be part of this festival as long as it is held," said H.K. Edgerton, Black Confederate activist and an honorary member of the Parsons Camp.

"The ban is being investigated as a free speech and civil rights violation by the Southern Legal Resource Center of Black Mountain, NC, who represented the Camp.  If the facts warrant, a lawsuit will be filed to make sure that this outrage is redressed and the Parsons Camp treated like any other civic group in a community wide festival," said Edgerton who is Chairman of the SLRC Board of Advisors.

The Southern Legal Resource Center is a South Carolina Public Civil Rights Law Firm that advocates on behalf of Confederate Southern Americans.

The SLRC is a non-profit South Carolina public Law firm that advocates on behalf of Confederate Southern-Americans and Southern heritage issues.

Donations to the SLRC are tax deductible for income tax purposes.

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