Allen's reversal irks supporters of Confederacy
2006-09-28
Source: Hampton Roads Pilot
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rss feedU.S. Sen. George Allen once again is being told to lay off the Confederate flag.
But this time, it's not coming from the people who abhor the Dixie symbol. It's from the people who revere it.
State leaders of the Sons of Confederate Veterans have scheduled a news conference today to criticize Allen's recent remarks that the Confederate flag could be seen as a symbol of hate.
"George Allen was a good friend of ours, and we don't appreciate him turning on us to get out of political trouble," said Frank Earnest of Virginia Beach, commander of the Virginia division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. "He's degraded us, the flag and our heritage."
At issue is Allen's apology to an association of black educators earlier this month for failing to grasp how his embrace of Southern symbols, including the Confederate flag, could be offensive to minorities.
The speech at a Washington hotel came after several stories in national publications detailed Allen's infatuation with symbols of the Old South. He wore a Confederate flag lapel pin in his high school graduation picture. He displayed a noose in his law office in the 1970s, and hung the Dixie flag inside his home in the 1980s. As governor in the mid-1990s, Allen offended many blacks by signing a proclamation that designated a Confederate history month but omitted mention of slavery.
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