Alan Lerwick
Jul 27, 2017 · 2 min read

Thank you for your biased opinion! You really do need to check out the FACEBOOK page BLACK CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS for an unbiased look at the real history of blacks and other minorities that fought as free men for the South during the American Civil War. And FYI slaves were freed/ emancipated in December 1865 when the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution was passed, not in 1862 when President Abe Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. FYI Ulysses S Grant, General of the Union during the Civil War was a SLAVE OWNER. Robert E Lee, General of the Confederacy did NOT own slaves, he was adamantly against slavery. When US Grant was questioned why he waited until the 13th Amendment was passed in December 1865 to free his slaves; he said “Good help is so hard to find these days”.

I would also like to point out that we were told not to display any flag with the Southern Cross. We went through a complete inspection by a Draper policeman and what we had in our entry was authorized by this same policeman, the entire Draper Police Department and the Draper City Council.

What you so wrongly state as a flag, is in fact the Sons of Confederate Veterans logo and is not on a flag; it’s on a parade banner. This logo appears on many state license plates. SCV is a registered US Charity. FYI All Confederate Veterans were given status as US Veterans by US Congressional Act long before you were born. Disrespecting any Veteran (which includes Confederate Veterans) disrespects ALL Veterans.

Those same Federal Laws and Congressional Acts that made Confederate soldiers and sailors into US Veterans eligible for US Military Pensions and their widows eligible for a Widows Pension from the US Government. Also made all Confederate flags into US Historic flags. If no Confederate flag is allowed in Draper, as you say, then not even the Betsy Ross flag of 1776 would be allowed either as both the Betsy Ross flag and the Confederate Battle flag are equal under the law. This is not only a matter of Freedom of Speech per se; it’s a matter of history as well.

I am a man of mixed heritage; White, Black, Native-American, & Jewish. I find your attitude of my way or the highway to be to be offensive to all that know their history. And while you’re at it check out our FACEBOOK page SOLDIER SUMMIT GRAYS, if you have a mind to know truth, otherwise don’t even bother with BLACK CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS on FACEBOOK. And yes, your daughter didn’t learn all there is to know about the Civil War there is oh so much more.