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March Across Dixie Re-Union March / An Open Report (November 4, 2007)


Sunday afternoon, November 4, 2007 I would drive to Pulaski, Tennessee,
where alongside the Honorable Dr.Michael Bradley, State Commander of the
Tennessee Sons of Confederate Veterans, State Commander Wilson of the
Alabama Sons of Confederate Veterans, and a host of other dignitaries, and
members of the public to celebrate the life and service of Colonel Calvin
Clack at a monument dedication in the Historic Maplewood Cemetery.

On Monday morning November 5, 2007, I would make an unschedule stop at the
entrance to Dallas County High School in Plantersville, Alabama off Highway
22 that leads into Selma, Alabama. After having been there for about an
hour, a local Sheriff’s Deputy would arrive, lights flashing on his vehicle.
He would enquire as to why I was at the school’s location. I would tell him
of the Re-union march , and that for no particular reason, other than I
could think of no better place to exercise my 1st Amendment Rights than at a
Southern School where a man ought to be able to express his pride in the
flag of the South and field any questions from those who would pass me by ,
including the many young people who surely did on this morning as they
entered the school. As the young officer began to pull out, a young Black
man would pull parallel to his vehicle; I heard the officer tell him, go
over there and talk to him , you’ll find his conversation very thought
provoking.

The officer would sit and watch as the young man before me; Bill from the
Midwest, and I began a dialogue that I shall have many times before this
journey that I am on shall end. No sooner had the officer pulled off , than
two men approached Bill and I from the school. It was the Principal, and a
Black man that I believe the Principal introduced as his assistant.He like
the officer would inquire of my reason for being at the entrance of his
school. I asked him to allow me to finish a question that I had began to
answer for Bill. As I began to speak, I could see the expression on not only
the Principals face change, but also that on his comrade. They both began to
smile. This is what I said: Bill, down here in these cotton fields, bean and
sugar fields, side by side, one called master, the other slave, but to each
other, family and friend; with the Christian Bible thrown in, developed a
love for each other, synomonous to that which Jesus Christ spoke of when he
walked this earth. However, during the period of so called Reconstruction, a
man called conqueorer, established the public school system, the Freedmens
Bureau, called in the Union League, and used these to control the political
machine in the South; especially taking away the former White Confederates
ability to vote; thus establishing Black rule of the former slaves over the
Whites, and far too many times, these Blacks were pawns more times than not
forced at gun point and never reaped the spoils that their carpetbagger
antagonist received. The Principal assigned me a better parking spot, and
asked me to have a great day.

I would later join Commander Gary Johnson of the local Sons Camp, his wife
Sandra, and their son Mark, for a stroll through Selma where we would be
joined by George McDonald, a young Black man and reporter for WAKA Channel 8
television News as we crossed the Edmund Petus Bridge. One of the highlights
of the day in Selma would be when a Black vendor asked as we pass him by ,
if he could have one of our flags, because it was his belief that his
business would increase tenfold, if he had one.

I would later travel to Marion, Alabama with Commander Johnson and his
family. It was facinating to learn of all the Confederate History and
historical places in this beautiful little town. However, I would be greatly
disappointed to learn as we visited the grounds of the Episcopal Churches
cemetery where it has a section known as Confederate Rest. The Bishop of the
Church had removed the Confederate Flags from the pole that flew over the
graves of the Confederate dead, and to make matters worse; he had not
returned the flags. His reasoning was that the flags might offend someone.
This continuing disgrace of the Espiscopalians, the Church of the Honorable
General Robert E.Lee is quiet appaling. We would later visit Marion Military
Institute where I would stand on the parade grounds and salute the cadets as
they drilled. we would end the day at the Chamber of Commerce of Marion, and
visit with their very nice President. It had been a great day in Dixie.

Please continue giving your pledges of support, and thanks as we make our
way once again across Dixie.