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CALCASIEU GREYS Volume 34, Issue 9 Sons of Confederate Veterans, Lake Charles, Louisiana September 2015

Louu

Finding Your Way Home Commander Column September 2015

The war to remove all things Confederate is waging across America. The University of Texas at Austin announced on August 13th that the statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis will be moved from the main mall to the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. The other statues on the U.T mall including Robert E. Lee, Albert Sidney Johnston, and John H. Reagan will remain for now. So will an inscription adjacent to the Littlefield Fountain dedicating the memorial “to the men and women of the Confederacy.” Allow me to remind you that the call to remove all things Confederate from our culture is inherently inconsistent at best and hypocritical at worst, further deepening racial division and animosity among Americans. America is a pluralistic culture and therefore tolerance should be practiced toward all groups including those whose ancestors served in the armed forces of the CSA. In recent days the SCV and the UDC has successfully defeated a resolution made to the Lake Charles City Council requesting the Police Jury either remove or rename the South’s Defender Monument on the grounds of the Calcasieu Parish courthouse. Unfortunately there will be a move to submit this issue to the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury in the spring. Gentlemen, the fight is not over. On July 10, the conservative magazine National Review, founded by my distant cousin William F. Buckley, Jr. weighed in on the Confederate monument controversy raging across the nation. Staff writer David French penned these thoughts:

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Captain James W. Bryan

NEXT MEETING The next meeting of Capt. J.W. Bryan Camp 1390, SCV will be from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015, at Joe’s Pizza & Pasta at 1601 Ruth St. in Sulphur. The program will be on the Confederate ancestors of some of our new members. Cmdr. Dr. Andy Buckley reports we had an outpouring of support from people at the gun show in Lake Charles Aug. 29-30. Our quartermaster reportedly did very well, especially with Confederate flags. People were very appreciative of our efforts to save The South’s Defenders Memorial Monument.

Captain James W. Bryan Camp now has 4-inch by 4-inch size bumper stickers of the camp logo available to members at $1 each, at meetings.

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Departments. Wilson angrily defended his actions and told them "segregation is not a humiliation but a benefit, and ought to be so regarded by you gentlemen." In 1914, Wilson told The New York Times, "If the colored people made a mistake in voting for me, they ought to correct it.” On June 25, 2015 a Washington Post editorial, called for the removal of the name Woodrow Wilson from public buildings and bridges due to his racism — in his official capacity as President:

“When Wilson entered the White House a hundred years ago, Washington was a rigidly segregated town — except for federal government agencies. The federal government had been integrated during the post-war Reconstruction period, enabling African-Americans to obtain federal jobs and work side by side with whites in government agencies. Wilson promptly authorized members of his cabinet to reverse this long-standing policy of racial integration in the federal civil service. It would be a valuable educational experience today to correct this mistake, and the historical record, by having a candid conversation about the racist legacy of Woodrow Wilson.” Perhaps it is just me, but don’t you see something contradictory about such hypocrisy? Politically correct liberals are removing Jefferson Davis’s statue in Austin and replacing it with that of a U.S. president who blatantly disfranchised African Americans and strongly supported segregation. Why is the Huffington-Post, the Atlantic Monthly, the New Yorker, and the NAACP strangely silent on the racist legacy of Woodrow Wilson? Maybe it is because Wilson was not a descendant of a Confederate veteran. You be the judge. Yours in Our Great Cause,

Dr. Andy Buckley Commander THE NEW ORLEANS MONUMENTS There has been no resolution to the proposed removal of the historic monuments honoring President Jefferson Davis, Gen. Robert E. Lee, and Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard in New Orleans by the city government, as of this writing. Gov. Bobby Jindal, and the Republicans governor candidates, Daivd Vitter, Jay Dardenne and Scott Angelle have all expressed opposition, while Democrat John Bell Edwards supports the city government.

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“To no one’s real surprise, the national Confederate-flag debate turns out not to be about flags alone. It’s not even truly about history. And it’s certainly not about dealing with the issues of crime and poverty that still disproportionately impact the black community. It has now moved entirely into the realm of raw cultural and political power. It’s an identity-politics hammer that is “heads, I win; tails, you lose.” With the left in the lead, you’re either a racist for refusing to bulldoze history or — if you go along — you’re still a racist, but at least the left has you under control. But let’s fast-forward and imagine an increasingly plausible future where Confederate memorials are piles of rubble, Confederate bones are interred in landfills, and Confederate flags linger on mainly as fading stickers on a few mud-covered pickup trucks — will America be a better nation? Will a single inner-city school improve? Will we have taken a single meaningful step toward finding a way to responsibly end mass incarceration? Will community and police relations improve, at all? Of course not. At the end of the day, America will be more ignorant, the cultural left will be more self-righteous, and our nation’s history will be viewed as an infinitely malleable tool for delivering only liberal approved messages to the hearts and minds of our citizens. As so often happens, the cultural left is winning because dissenters are silent. Despite an avalanche of cultural propaganda, majorities of Americans still don’t see the Confederate flag as a symbol of hate. Yet conservative political leaders apparently believe that the loud cultural minority is more important to appease than history is to preserve. So fire up the bulldozers, the hash tagging left will accomplish what no Union soldier ever could — knock General Lee off his horse.” By the way, did I tell you the Jefferson Davis statue will be replaced at UT by that of Democratic President Woodrow Wilson? Given Wilson’s racist legacy against African Americans, there should be a ground swell against this selection. But so far only the Washington Post has raised the issue. In 1912, "an unprecedented number" of African Americans left the Republican Party to cast their vote for Democrat Wilson, encouraged by his promises of support for their issues. They soon discovered Wilson was no friend of Black Americans and would watch him become the most racist president of the 20th Century. Eric Foner stated, "Wilson’s administration imposed full racial segregation in Washington and hounded from office considerable numbers of black federal employees." In 1914 a delegation of African American leaders met with Wilson to protest the segregation of the Post Office and Treasury

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Jan Craven, President of Calcasieu Chapter No. 1519,

presenting a certificate of appreciation to Dr. Andy

Buckley, SCV Commander, for his leadership in the

rededication proceedings and ceremony of the South’s

Defenders monument. This certificate was presented at

the August 11 meeting of Capt. James W. Bryan Camp

1390, SCV.

NOTE TO LAPSED MEMBERS

Please Note: If you are a lapsed/former member and want to renew, here is all you have to do: Submit dues to your old camp. If they are no longer around, or you just prefer it, send $30. payable to the SCV to P.O. Box 59, Columbia, TN 38402. The $5. reinstatement fee has been waived for the time being. Make sure to include your current address, and, if possible, also include your old member number, which you can find on a membership card or on the mailing label of a Confederate Veteran magazine you may have kept. You DO NOT have to catch up past year's dues. Just submit them for the current year, which begins August 1. Also, please include your email address. JEFF DAVIS STATUE REMOVED AT UT AUSTIN, Texas – The statue of President Jefferson Davis was removed Aug. 30 from the place it has been located on the campus of the University of Texas for more than a century. It was relocated to Briscoe History Center on campus but it is currently unknown how or where it will be displayed there. The move came after a court hearing at which the Sons of Confederate Veterans was denied standing in the case. Will the statue be hidden away in some dark corner of the museum where few people can see it? How will the powers that be there “reinterpret” the statue? What has happened to the University of Texas?

Members of the Louisiana Division, As you all must know, many things Confederate have taken some serious hits recently, be they monuments, the flag, license plates or even our logo. The bad news is that I don’t think it is over yet so we must do all in our power to be prepared, which is the purpose of this mailing. The Supreme Court decided that the Texas SCV had no right to a license plate and this decision, along with the hysteria about all things Confederate, could directly affect us here in Louisiana pertaining to our state issued plates. Governor Jindal has said that he was leaving that issue up to the next session of the State Legislature. At another time it came out that the issue of the license plates would be “visited” in the next legislative session. We must do what we can to try and head this off or at least try to combat it when the need arises. Currently there are over 900 members of the Louisiana Division, a number that is rising every day. Less than 200 of our members have an SCV license plate on their vehicle. This isn’t a very good average when it comes down to showing an interest in keeping our plates that were fought for so hard. It would look so much better when the legislature looks at the number of SCV plates actually issued if the number was 700 or even 800 instead of less than 200, don’t you think? This mail out is to implore each eligible member of the Louisiana Division to get an SCV state issued license plate before it is too late. There is a cost involved which is according to your vehicle but this issue is worth the price paid. Please do not delay as time is short and come March it may be too late to look back and say, “I wish I had gotten one of those.” You can download an application from our website, www.lascv.com. Fill it out, get a camp officer to sign it, get it notarized, and go to your local DMV. It is just that easy. You may also go to www.expresslane.org and enter your plate number, get a cost for the SCV plate and mail it in. Show your pride in your organization and be seen with an SCV state issued license plate on your vehicle. Help us have the kind of numbers that will attract the attention of lawmakers when they think about taking it away from us. Thank you for helping us all. Thank you for being a member of our Division. Keep up the fight. Thomas E. Taylor Commander, Louisiana Division Sons of Confederate Veterans

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Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest

Appeals Court Reverses dismissal of earlier

Chancery Court ruling

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The N. B. Forrest Camp 215 Sons of Confederate Veterans is pleased to forward the announcement that the Tennessee Court of Appeals on Friday reversed Shelby County Chancery Court's dismissal of the lawsuit against the city arising from City Council's 2013 decision and illegal actions to change the names of three city parks: Forrest Park, Confederate Park and Jefferson Davis Park. In a unanimous ruling the Appeals Court stated that "On appeal, we hold that the allegations of the complaint are sufficient to establish standing as to one of the organizations, Sons of Confederate Veterans Nathan Bedford Forrest Camp #215. We therefore reverse the trial court's dismissal as to that organization." Doug Jones, Nashville attorney representing the SCV, issued a statement on behalf of his clients saying SCV Camp 215 is "pleased" with the ruling. "SCV Camp #215 alleged the City's resolutions, which attempted to change the names of the three Civil War Parks, were illegal and without statutory authority. "The Court, in its opinion, specifically noted that the City of Memphis encouraged the SCV to erect a new marker at Forrest Park. The SCV wants to preserve the rich history Memphis. It is truly American history and as such, should be available to all the citizens and tourists who visit the City of Memphis," Jones said. Lee Millar, spokesman for the area Sons of Confederate Veterans stated, "For over 125 years our organizations have taken a very active part in the maintenance, enhancement and promotion of these three historic parks and we have a special interest in seeing them maintained in their historic character and identification. It is fitting that the Appeals Court recognized this and that the wrongful renaming of these parks can be rectified. We will continue to press the issue until the rightful historic names of these parks are returned." The ruling sends the case back to Chancery Court for a full hearing. [SCV Press Release]

RECENT POLL RESULTS ON

CONFEDERATE FLAG

The New York Times reported that a poll by Pew Research, a very respected firm, showed that 56% of Americans supported removing the Confederate Flag from the grounds of the South Carolina statehouse. That is not a surprise, given the fiery political climate that surrounded that action. But what the Times did not report is this: "Although 42% of African Americans say they have a negative reaction to the display of the flag, about as many blacks say their reaction to seeing it is neither positive nor negative (49%). African American reactions to the flag are relatively unchanged from 2011. Majorities of whites (56%) and Hispanics (62%) continue to say their reaction to the Confederate flag is neither positive nor negative. About a quarter (27%) of whites view it negatively; only 16% of whites have a positive reaction to the Confederate flag, but that is double the share who said this in 2011 (8%)." SCV PRESS RELEASE