Back to the main articles page     

An Open Report / Sharing The Conversation From
The Side Of The Road


Yesterday, July 12, 2007 , I would do as I have many times before
; drive across the mountains to my favorite place in Johnson City
, Tennessee ; Dixie Barbeque on North Roan Street; where I would
set up my easy chair outside the restaurant, with my Confederate
Battle Flag in hand , and began to confabulate with the passersby
and customers who would enter or leave the restaurant. Folks on
so many occasions want to know just what is said to me when I am
out with my flag ; so here is a compilation of some of that conversation
of yesterday.

1. A middle aged white man comes over to me and says ; " what
are you doing sitting here with that flag, is the food in there
so good that the owner could pay a Black man to be here like this,
and it appears that you are happy" ? My reply to him was that
I was there enjoying a mighty fine Dixie Day, and could he think
of a better place to be sitting flying the Confederate Battle Flag
than at Dixie Barbeque , and furthermore , yes the food is just
that good , and my brother would be down in a half hour to take
my place , and if he was going in to have some chicken , he had
better hurry before the rest of my family arrived.

2. A police officer from the Johnson City Police Department would
drive up, his blue lights flashing , come over to me , and inquire
if I worked for Dixie Barbeque , and if I was there to attract customers
to the restaurant ? I told him that I did not work for Dixie Barbeque
, and that on this particular day I was just enjoying being Southern.
However , that if my presence brought customers to Mr.. Howells
place , I couldn’t think of a better situation or outcome. I told
him that Mr.. Howell was a great man, and that he was the only Democrat
that I in good conscious could vote for or encourage anyone else
to. The very nice Officer thanked me for my military service , and
for making an honorable stand for my homeland, the Southland of
America, and assured me that the Johnson City Police would keep
a watch out for my safety. God bless the Johnson City, Tennessee
Police Department.

3. A young Black man would pull up , and say to me: " You must
be Mr.. Edgerton. I want to thank you for making life easier for
a lot of us around here. White folks who I work with treat me so
much nicer now that we have finally start talking to each other,
and it was a conversation about you and your flag that started that
dialogue. He would give me a hug and wish me good luck on my mission.

4. Three White men would approach me after existing from the restaurant
, and inquire if I would take a picture with them. I did , and they
told me that wished that they knew more about the period of time
that led up to the War , the relations between a man called slave
and the one called master , and why people hate the flag. I took
him over to the car, and signed and gave him a copy of my dear friend,
Mike Scruggs, Uncivil War. He was so delighted that he gave me a
generous donation.

5. I would take several hundred more pictures from passersby and
folks entering and leaving the restaurant, hug several dozen of
the beautiful ladies, and after several hours , furl my flag and
join Commander Jim Maddox of the Sons of Confederate Veterans inside
Dixie Barbeque before Mr.. Howell could hide all the chickens that
he had threatened to do, because he knew that H.K. had arrived in
the house. It had been a great day in Dixie !