Group angry after Confederate flag plan rejected in Lexington

By Duncan Adams

The Civil War ended in 1865, but a skirmish about the display of the losing side's flags returned Thursday to Lexington, burial ground for both Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

A local group of the Sons of Confederate Veterans wanted to fly Confederate flags from lampposts on downtown streets from Jan. 10 to 15 to celebrate Lee-Jackson Day, a state holiday set for Jan. 14.

Lexington City Council weighed the request Thursday night and voted unanimously in favor of a different plan.

The council's response stirred a vigorous protest from Brandon Dorsey, the commander for Camp 1296 of the Stonewall Brigade of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. He said city officials continue to demonstrate "a longtime antagonism against" public display of symbols of the Confederacy. Camp 1296 has about 60 to 70 members, Dorsey said.

Specifically, the council ruled Thursday that the flags requested by the camp can fly from Jan. 10 to Jan. 13 but not on Jan. 14 or 15 -- when flags of the United States and Virginia will line the streets for Lee-Jackson Day on Friday and the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday Monday.

The brigade plans to fly three flags, Dorsey said, including the Second National Confederate Flag, Lee's Headquarters Flag and a period state flag. He said the camp, as a gesture of good will, did not ask to fly the Confederate Battle Flag, which seems to stir the strongest negative reactions.

Dorsey's reaction to the council's alternative plan included a charge that officials continue to exhibit "prejudice against the flying of Confederate flags." He described the council's response as a cagey way to skirt a permanent federal injunction issued in 1993 that prohibits the city from denying the rights of individuals or groups to display Confederate flags.

In a memo dated Nov. 23, City Attorney Laurence Mann warned the council that the brigade's request "will generate some conflict" because of the 1993 case.

But Lexington Mayor Mimi Elrod said Friday the council's decision followed a standing, if apparently unwritten, policy about flying state and U.S. flags on state and federal holidays.

"We're aware of our duties under the injunction, but we have not discriminated against the symbols of the Confederacy," Elrod said.

Mann told the council he had not found a record of formal action on a flag policy. But he said it appears there was informal approval at some time of flying only state and U.S. flags on state and federal holidays.

City Manager Jon Ellestad said he believes the policy has been in effect "since around 2002."

Dorsey said the brigade suggested a compromise Thursday that would have allowed weekend placement of Confederate flags only in the first couple of blocks leading from the cemetery where Jackson is buried. He said the council rejected that alternative.

Elrod declined to comment when asked whether officials worried that prominently flying the flags of the Confederacy from lampposts on downtown streets might reflect poorly on the city.

She said the council's decision was not motivated by "feelings of discrimination or hostility."

Elrod said the city has allowed Washington and Lee University and the Virginia Military Institute to fly school flags downtown on occasion but that both also have been precluded from displaying them along city streets on state and federal holidays.

The Rev. Rayfield Vines, president of the Virginia State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he believes the city council acted appropriately by limiting the prominent public display of Confederate flags to the days preceding Lee-Jackson Day and the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

"There are certain symbols that bring back divisiveness," Vines said. "We have enough things to divide us. We need things to bring us together."

The flags of the Confederacy remind many of old wounds, he said.

Dorsey disagreed. And he said those who contend the flags represent hate and racism are misinformed.

Instead, he said, they represent sacrifice, heritage and history, including family history.

"We're a history group," Dorsey said. "We're all de-scendants of the soldiers who fought this war. Our ances- tors bled and died for this state, at its request, and ought to be remembered and honored."

He said Lexington's demographics have changed and that the city's politics lean now toward "progressive, Democratic, liberal." He suggested many tourists who visit Lexington are drawn by its rich Civil War history.

The brigade will fly the flags on the days specified by the council, Dorsey said. He is not sure how many flags will be displayed along downtown streets but believes there are more than 70 brackets available.

Dorsey said the Sons of Confederate Veterans might file another lawsuit against the city.