Skynyrd ain’t our Enemy…
I recently published a post entitled An Inconvenient Truth the subject of which was the recent controversy involving Southern Rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd interview with CNN their distancing of themselves from the Confederate Battle Flag, fan outrage, and Gary Rossington’s (last original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd) clarification and pledge to keep flying the flag at their live shows.
Today I want to take the discussion in a new direction, one that will most likely get me as much or more hate mail than it will positive responses. That being said, this is what I feel, and this is what I feel is right to say.
I like most of you was both angered and disappointed when Lynyrd Skynyrd appeared on CNN and declared that they were dissociating themselves from the Confederate Flag, I found their Facebook page and shared my displeasure with them like THOUSANDS of my fellow Southerners and Skynyrd fans did. I was quite please , when Gary Rossington posted his statement clarifying his position on the flag stating that:
“I wanted to clarify the discussion of the Confederate Flag in our recent CNN interview. Myself, the past members and the present members (that are from the South), are all extremely proud of our heritage and being from the South. We know what the Dixie flag represents and its heritage; the Civil War was fought over States rights.
We still utilize the Confederate (Rebel) flag on stage every night in our shows, we are and always will be a Southern American Rock band, first and foremost. We also utilize the state flag of Alabama and the American flag as well, ‘cause at the end of the day, we are all Americans. I only stated my opinion that the confederate flag, at times, was unfairly being used as a symbol by various hate groups, which is something that we don’t support the flag being used for. The Confederate flag means something more to us, Heritage not Hate”
It was good to know that so many of us spoke out and it was even better that somebody listened. Gary Rossington listened and tried to make things right, now where I come from, that’s all a man can do , or be expected to do. So why are so many of my Southern brothers in the ranks of the Sons of Confederate Veterans still raking him over the coals?
Michael Givens, Commander in Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans could never be described as a simple administrator, or a bureacrat within the ranks of the 31,000 that make up the Sons. He is an Independent film maker, he is articulate, proactive and thinks outside of the box in his duties. In short his has been an excellent commander but in the case of Lynyrd Skynyrd, specifically Gary Rossington’s statements he is wrong. Responding to Rossington’s statement he left the following comment in the comments section at the band’s website, www.lynyrdskynyrd.com stating:
“Dear Gary, Lynyrd Skynyrd, management, `et alia’,
I am the Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. We are an organization, chartered in 1896 by veterans of the War for Southern Independence for the purpose of promoting the true history and principles of the Confederate soldiers’ cause. On behalf of our 31,000 members I write you today to express our deep sadness and concern over your present stance toward our venerable banner of the South. Your use of the flag in a manner that is up lifting and not aligned with any form of hate has been a stalwart defense of the flag’s true symbolism for many years. We appreciate and applaud your past efforts on behalf of our common ancestors.
Our biggest concern comes from your statement on the 8th of September 2012 to CNN. You disclosed, “But I think through the years, you know, people like the KKK and Skinheads and people have kind of kidnapped the dixie rebel flag from the southern tradition and the heritage of the soldiers.” Sir, our ancestors wrote the definition of that flag with their blood and when they furled the flag at the last battle they tucked their God-given liberty inside. The KKK and the Skinheads do not define our flag any more than the NAACP or any other hate group.
I am sure you do not agree with their hateful views of our flag, therefore I must ask you, who will stand up for the TRUTH, if not you and if not me? The answer is no one and without us the truth will be buried with the American Confederate flag. That is why we must not capitulate to their nancy demands.
Like many men in my organization, your music has been the soundtrack of my life. Your songs have helped define my own identity and Southernness. I have been a fan from the beginning. I was at the second to the last concert of the original band in Johnson City, Tennessee. All my best friends were at the Greenville, South Carolina concert a few days later. Then, our lives were changed forever—some much more than others. We have always been there for you. Your fans have not let you down. Do not let us down.
My fear is that you are living the song, WORKING FOR THE MCA and that Lynyrd Skynyrd has become the subject of a re-branding effort that hopes to make a kinder, gentler Lynyrd Skynyrd. I worked in the ad world for twenty years; re-branding’s not what we need. We need the honest and courageous Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Stay true to your people.
Please fell free to contact me if I may help. I wish you the very best and remain,
Respectfully yours,
Michael Givens Commander-in-Chief Sons of Confederate Veterans scv.org michaelgivens.com”
This was a good statement, a proper statement, and it should have stopped there, however; since making the statement he has also added :
“They still have not put it back in merchandise and the fact that they capitulated in the first place continues the acid rain of angst.”
Commander Givens has also seemingly become obsessed with a few nameless individuals in the comments (all 53 of them) section on the band’s website www.lynyrdskynyrd.com stating: “My letter to Skynyrd has brought out the loons. Y’all might want to chime in”, as well as being obsessed with the the moderators on the site.
Sir, perhaps Gary Rossington did some soul searching after the CNN interview and the backlash from the fans. The end result is that the band will once again fly the flag that has been the symbol of the band for over 40 years, and our heritage for 150 years.
You , me, or anyone else for that matter has no right to demand what kind of merchandise they sell. The free market will determine the demand. Isn’t that what our ancestors fought the war to begin with? Besides, Gary Rossington isn’t telling us what merchandise to sell.
While you have been trying to bring Lynyrd Skynyrd under the heel, a major developement has occurred in Alabama. The Herald Standard is reporting that:
“Council members in an Alabama city voted Tuesday to stop a group’s work on a new monument honoring a Confederate general who was an early leader in the Ku Klux Klan.
The Selma City Council voted 4-0 with two members abstaining to stop all work on the monument to Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest until the courts decide whether the city or a Confederate heritage group owns the cemetery property where the monument would be rebuilt.
Demonstrations by civil rights groups about 10 years ago led to the relocation of a Forrest monument from outside a city building near downtown to a section of a city cemetery honoring Confederate war dead. But Forrest’s bust was removed and apparently stolen from atop a 7-foot granite memorial earlier this year, and efforts to rebuild it have drawn protests and calls by civil rights activists not to replace it.
Detractors say Forrest traded black people like cattle, massacred black Union soldiers and joined the early Ku Klux Klan. His defenders dispute much of that and counter with stories that depict him as a protector of slave families and defender of the weak who resigned from the KKK”
I ask you this; Who is more of a threat to our heritage? A group of friends who admit they were wrong and moves forward, or a group of well organized individuals, who will never admit when they are wrong and will not be happy until they destroy everything we hold dear?
Commander Givens, I respect you, but I would respect you a hell of a lot more if you got off your computer, stop having a teenage-style chatroom smack down with a nameless idiot and get your ass down to Alabama to confront the REAL threats to our heritage. respectfully,Clint E. LacyMember Colonel John T. Coffee Camp #1934, Osceola, Missouri
An Inconvenient Truth; Liberal Media ignores Skynyrd Pledge to Keep Flying Confederate Flag
The members of Lynyrd Skynyrd probably weren’t expecting a firestorm when they agreed to be interviewed by CNN’s Fredricka, but that’s exactly what transpired when members of the group stated that they would no longer fly the Confederate flag at their shows. The interview, which aired Sept 9th on CNN caused an uproar in the Southern community , especially among long time Skynyrd fans.
The interview went viral almost as soon as it finished airing and angry fans flooded the group’s Facebook and Twitter accounts expressing dissatisfaction with the group’s decision to distance themselves from the flag.
The mainstream media was almost giddy with self adoration. They were no doubt, patting theirselves on the back for what they perceived as another victory in bringing down “the old South”. What they weren’t expecting was the effect that an angry fan base would have on the group’s decision distance itself from the Confederate flag, but that’s exactly what happened and at least one member of the group listened.
Gary Rossington, the last original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd released a statement on Sept 21’st stating:
“I wanted to clarify the discussion of the Confederate Flag in our recent CNN interview. Myself, the past members and the present members (that are from the South), are all extremely proud of our heritage and being from the South. We know what the Dixie flag represents and its heritage; the Civil War was fought over States rights. We still utilize the Confederate (Rebel) flag on stage every night in our shows, we are and always will be a Southern American Rock band, first and foremost. We also utilize the state flag of Alabama and the American flag as well, ‘cause at the end of the day, we are all Americans. I only stated my opinion that the confederate flag, at times, was unfairly being used as a symbol by various hate groups, which is something that we don’t support the flag being used for. The Confederate flag means something more to us, Heritage not Hate…
-Gary Rossington ”
While the left-wing media was quick to spread the news of “their victory” ( Skynyrd’s decision to distance themselves from all things Confederate), they were less enthusiastic to spread the news of Rossington’s clarification that they will still fly the Confederate Battle Flag at their shows. In fact “news organizations” such as The Atlantic Wire decided to ignore Rossington’s statement all together.
The very same day that Rossington released his statement that the group WAS NOT going to stop flying the Confederate Battle Flag at their live shows The Atlantic Wire published an article entitled “Racists Ruined the Confederate Flag for Lynyrd Skynyrd” !
The article states that: “The reason reporters are scouring online forums, fanpage comments, and Twitter is because the last surviving original member of the hard-to-spell band which brought you Southern anthems “Free Bird” and “Sweet Home Alabama”, Gary Rossington, has made a pledge to stop associating the band (himself) with the Confederate flag. It’s a big move since part of the reason the Confederate flag has remained popular (at least in rock n roll) was because Lynyrd Skynyrd’s use of the flag in concerts and memorabilia (back when Rossington didn’t think it was associated with the KKK and raging racists)”
I find it hard to believe that The Atlantic Wire author of this article had absolutely no idea that Rossington had clarified his statements about the Confederate flag and his pledge to keep flying it at their shows, or the fact that Rossington stated the war was not about slavery.
Just in case you were wondering, no The Atlantic Wire has not updated the article to reflect Rossington’s clarification about the Confederate flag. It is a little more than ironic , when one considers that when Rossington’s statements about the flag were published on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Facebook page it received 2108 positive comments within 5 hours of its posting.
Are we really supposed to believe the Atlantic Wire had no knowledge of this? Of course they did, but they were already in celebration mode, they couldn’t spoil the celebration with a healthy dose of the truth could they?
Still, some aren’t so quick to forgive the group even after Rossington pledged to keep flying the flag. Michael Givens, Commander in Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans released the following statement today on his Facebook page:
“Dear Gary, Lynyrd Skynyrd, management, `et alia’,
I am the Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. We are an organization, chartered in 1896 by veterans of the War for Southern Independence for the purpose of promoting the true history and principles of the Confederate soldiers’ cause. On behalf of our 31,000 members I write you today to express our deep sadness and concern over your present stance toward our venerable banner of the South. Your use of the flag in a manner that is up lifting and not aligned with any form of hate has been a stalwart defense of the flag’s true symbolism for many years. We appreciate and applaud your past efforts on behalf of our common ancestors.
Our biggest concern comes from your statement on the 8th of September 2012 to CNN. You disclosed, “But I think through the years, you know, people like the KKK and Skinheads and people have kind of kidnapped the dixie rebel flag from the southern tradition and the heritage of the soldiers.” Sir, our ancestors wrote the definition of that flag with their blood and when they furled the flag at the last battle they tucked their God-given liberty inside. The KKK and the Skinheads do not define our flag any more than the NAACP or any other hate group.
I am sure you do not agree with their hateful views of our flag, therefore I must ask you, who will stand up for the TRUTH, if not you and if not me? The answer is no one and without us the truth will be buried with the American Confederate flag. That is why we must not capitulate to their nancy demands.
Like many men in my organization, your music has been the soundtrack of my life. Your songs have helped define my own identity and Southernness. I have been a fan from the beginning. I was at the second to the last concert of the original band in Johnson City, Tennessee. All my best friends were at the Greenville, South Carolina concert a few days later. Then, our lives were changed forever—some much more than others. We have always been there for you. Your fans have not let you down. Do not let us down.
My fear is that you are living the song, WORKING FOR THE MCA and that Lynyrd Skynyrd has become the subject of a re-branding effort that hopes to make a kinder, gentler Lynyrd Skynyrd. I worked in the ad world for twenty years; re-branding’s not what we need. We need the honest and courageous Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Stay true to your people.
Please fell free to contact me if I may help. I wish you the very best and remain,
Respectfully yours,
Michael Givens
Commander-in-Chief
Sons of Confederate Veterans
scv.org
michaelgivens.com”
webmaster
Media Continues to Misrepresent Southern Heritage
“The Rebel flag represents the confederacy and is a symbol long considered racist but to 17-year-old Matthew Newcomb it represents his southern pride.”
Trayvon Martin Fraud Part V: Why did the media ignore the Orlando Sentinel?
Why has the politicians, the fake reverend, the Attorney General of Injustice, the President and thousands of hoodie wearing , skittles toting idiots ignored this Orlando Sentinel report by Rene Stutzman that sites eye-witness accounts of George Zimmerman being attacked by Trayvon Martin as well as the fact that Zimmerman was on his way to the grocery store, not on neighborhood watch patrol when the attack occurred? Click on the picture to watch Stutzman’s universally ignored report.
Race Baiting?
Well the accusations abound that Across our Confederation is guilty of “Race-Baiting”. It reminds me of an article I read about liberals once upon a time. The just of it was that one can not win an argument against liberals because facts mean nothing. Facts mean nothing because liberalism is more than a political viewpoint, it is a religion to those who believe in it and the followers have enough faith in their “religion” to believe that if they keep repeating the lies, distorting the truth and manipulating the media enough, the world will see things how they want the world to see them.
That might work for THEM but that is not how I see the world. I see the world for how it REALLY is.
The criticism started rolling in as I published my series on the Trayvon Martin case Part I , Part II and Part III . Race-baiting was the accusation made by certain liberal South-hating blogs.
Excuse me, I am not the “race-baiter” I expose the race-baiters.
Maybe Al-Sharpton didn’t call for an expanding of civil unrest.
Maybe a rap group didn’t put out a video calling for riots and hurting white children.
Maybe militant black thugs didn’t go on a spray painting spree of Confederate monuments in New Orleans in the name of “Justice” for Trayvon. Maybe the aforementioned same black thugs didn’t spray paint “blacks kill white people too” on a bridge in the same city during their vandalism spree and maybe, just maybe Tulane professor Charles Figley didn’t say that “their intent was to practice terrorism”
Monuments were being defaced prior to Trayvon’s death. That being said, the militants who dawn their hoodies on their head, (a spray can in one hand and a pack of “Skittles” in the other) as a sign of solidarity for their fallen martre, feel even more embolden and justified in doing so.
No thanks to anti-Southern bloggers such as Kevin Levin over at Civil War Memory who suggests that the monuments are a result of a “history of racial tension” .
Can I label men like Levin “Yankee -Baiters”?
This isn’t going away and there is no reason to hide your head in the sand and pretend it is. Call me what you want, the fact is, I really don’t care what you call me but one thing is for sure, you won’t find me wringing my hands at the matter, questioning the “history of racial injustice” as thugs continue to vandalise monuments to the Confederate veterans, distribute rap songs that call for physical harm of white children, or insinuate that if we all don’t beg for forgiveness from Trayvon that white people are going to die.-webmaster.
The Trayvon Martin Fraud Part III: What’s in a symbol?
Continuing with my exploration of “Reverend” Jesse Jackson’s accusation that “blacks are under attack” I thought it would be interesting to explore the statistics regarding “Black History” vs “Southern” or “Confederate” history. An article posted on NJ.Com’s website , published Feb 26, 2010 ( “Renaming a street is a common – and sometimes controversial – way to honor Martin Luther King Jr” ) states: “When it comes to renaming public spaces in honor of African-Americans, no modern tradition has been more successful — and often more contentious — than renaming a street after Martin Luther King Jr.
What began in Chicago a few months after the civil rights leader was assassinated in 1968 picked up steam once his birthday was named a federal holiday in 1983. Whether dubbed a street, highway, drive, boulevard, lane or circle, renaming continue to this day, said Derek Alderman, an East Carolina University geographer who has studied the trend.
There are now at least 893 Martin Luther King Jr. streets in the United States, according to his latest compilation. The majority of those are in the South, particularly in King’s home state of Georgia, which has 128.”
You know those are interesting statistics. Over 893 MLK streets across the U.S. , amazingly most of them are located in South , where an epidemic of anti-Confederate vandalism cases has erupted. One needs only to do a quick Google or Yahoo search to see just how bad this epidemic has become….
March 27,2012 Wall Street Journal
“Fall of Confederate Statue Ignites Civil War in its Home”
March 26, 2012 Montgomery Advertiser
“Bust of Confederate General , Klan Leader missing in Selma”
March 8, 2012 Examiner.Com
“NAACP linked to Effort to Bulldoze Confederate Monument, Bessinger’s BBQ”
These are incidents that have happened over the last month alone! The latter, being directly linked to the NAACP. I ask you; Who is under attack here? Certainly not Jesse and Al.
And what happens when Southerners try to honor Black Confederates who served their country? They are ridiculed by the likes of not only radicals from the racial left, but white guilt , neo-yankee propagandist such as Kevin Levin and Brookes Simpson.
On the other hand the Trayvon Martin incident has spawned an entirely new type of “civil rights” symbol…the hoodie. It has been seen everywhere from the U.S. House of Representatives , to Black churches and by liberal television hosts.
Yes little Trayvon is now a martre and his death will be put to good use by liberal media and the rabid black racialists to further their main cause… the almighty greenback dollar. Men like Sharpton and Jackson need a good tragedy to get the money flowin’ in again so that they can again pick up the banner of battling those slave, lovin’ Confederates.
South-haters love to espouse the claim that the Confederate flag is a symbol of oppression against blacks and minorities but over 893 MLK streets in the American South and the seemingly monthly vandalism incidents involving Confederate monuments tell a different story. Black Americans are not under attack, white Americans, specifically of Southern ancestry are the new minority. The hoodie will be the banner that those who wish to eradicate the Southerner will rally around.-webmaster
The Trayvon Martin Fraud: Part II
In my previous post I addressed the issue of the media deliberately distorting the facts about the Trayvon Martin case, as well as politicians and “community leaders” left-wing revolutionaries using this incident to generate publicity for their organizations. One such man the “Reverend” Jesse Jackson ( who I specifically mentioned in my previous post) stated that blacks were under attack. This is simply not true. Were blacks under attack in 2008 ? Hardly the United States elected a black president of questionable eligibility. Not only did the country elect a black president of questionable eligibility, the Black Panther Party was given a green light to intimidate white voters during the process! After the incidents in 2008, the DOJ launched an investigation which , after the election of Barack Obama, quickly went away under the leadership of Attorney General Eric Holder as evidenced in this video, which highlights one Black Panther calling for the murder of white babies! The Black Panther Party was at it again in the same polling station in 2010, only this time the member said he was there to “greet” voters, click on this video to watch.
Ken LaRive reporting for Examiner.com (2009) states that: “The “New Century Foundation” studies Federal crime reports, and found significant differences in crime ratio between races, verified by the FBI’s NCVS, National Crime Victimization Survey, and The Department of Justice’s UCR, Uniform Crime Reports, FBI Communication’s Division, 304-625-4995.They state emphatically that the Judicial System is not biased against minorities.
Blacks are seven times more likely than people of other races to commit murder, and eight times more likely to commit robbery.
Blacks are three times more likely to use a hand gun, and twice more likely to use a knife.
Hispanics commit three times more violent crimes than whites, but the statistics are nebulous because sometimes they are classified as white, so it could be far higher.
The best indicator of violent crime levels in an area is the percent of the population that is black and Hispanic.
Blacks are 39 times more likely to commit a violent crime against whites then vice versa, and 136 times more likely to commit a robbery.
Forty-five percent of black crime is against whites, 43 against other blacks, and 10 percent against Hispanic.
Blacks are seven times more likely to go to prison, Hispanics three times, and the reason is clear, because from 1980 to 2003 the US incarceration rate has tripled, and so proves that Justice is not only hard-won, but well served.
Continue reading on Examiner.com Federal Statistics of black on white violence, with links and mathematical extrapolation formulas. – Lafayette Political Buzz | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-lafayette/federal-statistics-of-black-on-white-violence-with-links-and-mathematical-extrapolation-formulas#ixzz1qF4ntPdY“
Then there was the 2007 attack against Channon Christian and Christopher Newsome, as reported by The Worth Reading blog: “The kidnappers blindfolded their victims and took them to the house at 2316 Chipman Street that Davidson was renting, and where Coleman was waiting. There, Davidson and Cobbins and two other, still unidentified men raped Christian repeatedly in her mouth, vagina, and anus, until her lower lip was ripped from her gums. The men and/or Coleman savaged her private parts, repeatedly shoving a jagged object into, and/or kicking her vagina, hour after hour after hour. Some observers believe that Coleman engaged in the sexual torture out of sexual jealousy, because her boyfriend, Cobbins, found “the white girl” more attractive than her (which was undoubtedly and understandably the case). The medical examiner found semen from Davidson, Cobbins, and two unidentified men on Channon Christian’s panties, in her vagina, and in her anus, but none from her boyfriend. That means that two rapist-murderers are still at large, and that Channon and Christopher had not yet made love.
(An unidentified member or members of the gang also raped the bound Christopher Newsom with a blunt instrument, savaging Newsom’s anus.)”
Then there is the story of a 13-year-old white boy who was attacked and set on fire by his black attackers in Kansas City , Missouri. I don’t know what is more ironic, the fact that this was virtually ignored in the mainstream media or the fact that when it was finally picked up it was from the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper, who will not even admit that this was a hate crime. From The Daily Mail:
“Police are investigating a possible race hate attack after a 13-year-old boy was doused in gasoline and set on fire.
The teenager, who suffered first degree burns to his face and hands, is white and his two attackers black.
His mother Melissa Coon said the attackers told her son ‘This is what you deserve. You get what you deserve, white boy’.”
Still no word from Jesse, Al, Chris Mathews, The Huffington Post or any of the other repeat media offenders.
Coming soon: The Trayvon Martin Case: Part III
Why isn’t the Museum of the Confederacy going to fly Confederate Flags?
Are YOU mad enough yet? Call (804) 649-1861 and ask the Museum of the Confederacy WHY there will be no Confederate Flag flown at the Appomattox location! Email Linda Lipscomb, Appomattox site director llipscomb@moc.org. Send a fax to: (804) 644-7150. If you live anywhere near Richmond, stop in and ask them in person! If you are a member, cancel your membership…tell them why…and demand a REFUND!-via Southern Heritage Preservation Group.