August 6, 2020
Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina
Dear Ms. Lunelle,
I would be remiss if I did not thank the Owensboro, Kentucky, Police and Sheriff Departments for their help and support at the protest rally on August 1, 2020, in their city. They are to be commended.
As I stood with the Southern Cross in hand this afternoon in Asheville, I could see about seven or eight cars parking, and a group of middle age and elderly black folks heading in my direction. Some of them I recognized from my school days.
“HK, we have been supporters of yours for a long time, and we read what you said in an open letter published the Daily Planet Newspaper. It is ironic that what you said about this reparation fiasco which the city and county was echoed almost the same by one of the county commissioners as he recognized as you pointed out; this reparation proposal is something that our governments are already doing. Maybe we can expand on it. What say you, Mr. Edgerton?”
I would tell them that this Vance Monument Task Force supposedly was formed to determine where and what would be done with the peoples treasure; the Vance Monument. However, somebody had to take the blame for this carnage. “Guess who? Black folks!”
I would tell them: A scheme was concocted by your black city councilman to lure you into supporting the Vance monument take down, i.e., throwing reparations on the table.
He proposed the one thing that he thought you would buy into hook, line and sinker: “Reparation for the sons and daughters of slavery,” thinking that he would be forever forgiven for the hate black folks would inherit from a lot of Southern folks for this betrayal.
What he did not understand is that these two governing bodies do not have the resources for the “real reparations” I have heard expressed by black folks for my entire life. Nor did they even know how to proceed with this endeavor.
I told them that what was voiced to me by my elders during the time that I was Vice President and President of the NAACP:
Black folks should demand first of all that reparations only be given to those blacks born before and during the period of Jim Crow. (2) Demand a onetime non-taxable monetary payment of two million dollars to each qualifying family unit.
I believe that what this council and commission have done is tantamount to criminal fraud because they knew that they didn’t have the resources or support of their citizenry for real reparations. They were and still are banking that none of the citizens have the knowledge to figure this out.
And, because of the state monument protection laws, I don’t think they have a lawful right to remove this Cenotaph that attracts many visitors to this tourist town. And that affects the economy in a positive way. These Cenotaphs are a positive for black and white families, and are reflective of the honor that the Africans of this city and county earned in service to the South and her citizens.
Mrs. Aston, from the renowned and prominent Aston family, asked the United Daughters of the Confederacy to erect a monument to the black community for their exceptional and honorable service during the tragic time of the War for Southern Independence as the hoard army of the North ravaged our City.
I am preparing to take this matter up with the Southern Legal Resource Center for civil and criminal prosecution against the city and county. I will begin asking the proper agents to set up a Go Fund Me Page to fund the lawsuit.
“To heck with COVID-19, HK!” They would all give me a hug, and God’s blessings. God bless you!
Your brother,
HK
Chairman, Board of Advisors Emeritus, Southern Legal Resource Center
Member, Save Southern Heritage
Honorary Life Member, Zebulon B. Vance Camp 15, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Honorary Scot of Austin
Kentucky Colonel
Recipient, City of Asheville Citizenship Award
Honorary Life Member, Judah P. Benjamin Camp 2210, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Honorary Life Member, Forrest Orphans Camp 1744, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Honorary Associate Member, Abner Baker Chapter 14, United Daughters of the Confederacy
Honorary Life Member, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia Orders of the Confederate Rose
Member, Historic March Across Dixie Twenty Mile Club
President, Southern Heritage 411
