Crestview City Council Members:
My name is Kevin Bishop. On August 6 2015, I attended the special meeting regarding the Confederate Battle Flag that is currently flown over the William Lundy memorial in Crestview. I have lived in Crestview for nine years. I also work two jobs, volunteer, shop, dine, and worship in the Crestview area. I was unable to stay for the entire meeting because I had to leave for work. However while I was at the meeting I witnessed some very disturbing actions by the council.
First of all, guests were asked to fill out comment cards if they would like to speak during the meeting. On the back of the comment cards were instructions. The last of the four instructions read: “All presentations shall be limited to three minutes unless further time is granted by the council president. Large groups may have one (1) speaker with a time limit of up to 10 (ten) minutes.” For some people this rule was followed precisely. For other people/groups this rule was simply ignored. The NAACP made two ten minute presentations in the time I was in attendance and several of their group spoke for three minutes on top of the 20 minutes they were allowed to speak. I ask why the unfair practices by the council?
Another disturbing thing that I witnessed was at one point a few moments after the start of the meeting, Councilman Hayes asked for anyone in the room to remove any confederate flags from the room. Why I ask? Even the citizens whom spoke in favor of removing the flag from the memorial stated that anyone had the right to own and fly a flag on their own property and they would never be asked to remove them. So why would the council make someone remove it from their own hands in the meeting. Did it offend someone? It is our right to keep and fly our flags. If offending someone is all it takes to remove our rights then why didn’t anyone ask the NAACP members to take their NAACP logos out of the room because racism offends me? And yes by definition the NAACP is pure racism. NAACP stands for National Association for Advancement of Colored People. I support equal rights for everyone but I will never support special right for any group. If this group only helps “colored people” then they obviously discriminate against all other races. On August 28 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made a speech known by most today as the “I Have A Dream Speech.” Dr. King’s speech was about civil rights and EQUAL rights for all people regardless of the color of their skin. Dr. King would be embarrassed today of the goals of white suppression of the NAACP. If the group did not promote racism it would be the NAAAP (National Association for Advancement of American People). So, in my opinion, if anything should be removed, it would be the logo that depicts racism at its core.
The next thing that I notice that disturbed me about the meeting is that from even before the start of the meeting, Councilmen Bill Cox and Shannon Hayes’ body language showed that they had already made their mind up that they wanted the flag removed from the memorial. The bias was shown beyond body language. At the end of any person or groups presentation supporting removal of the flag, Councilman Hayes thanked the person or group for their time and input. At the end of most of the presentations from people or groups supporting keeping of the flag, Councilman Hayes didn’t thank them at all but rather made comments like “And next we have…” or “moving on..” or anything but thank you. The job of the council is to represent the people’s best interest not their own interest. If any member of the council cannot make an unbiased decision based upon the law and the wants of the majority of the citizens, then that councilman need to either remove themselves or be removed from the council.
I am not going to give a history lesson on the origin of the flag, the purpose of the Civil War, origins of slavery, or why it is asinine to relate the flag to racism. I am going to say that William Lundy and all other confederate war hero’s deserve the respect of flying their battle flag over their war memorial in the city of Crestview. I am not asking you to fly the KKK flag or the Black Panther flag or the NAACP flag or even the American flag as these brave men did not fight under or for these flags. These men’s battle flag needs to fly in memory of these men and the heritage of this community. After all it is their memorial!
Kevin Bishop has lived in Crestview for nine years. He also works two jobs, volunteers, shops, dines and worships here.
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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Here's why the Confederate flag should fly at Crestview memorial