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The Nobel Peace Prize



There is no doubt in my mind that the power of the Almighty God prevails in the small town of Cross City, Florida, where the Ten Commandments are prominently displayed on a granite monument on the courthouse steps. And that two of its residents are deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize. I speak of the Honorable Joe Sparcino, Commander of the Dixie Defenders Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the Honorable Ms. Angela Carter, Chair of the Martin Luther King Peace March Committee in Cross City.

Not enough has been said or written about the herculean effort they and each of their groups made to bring the dream that Dr. Martin Luther King would espouse on the Capitol Mall in Washington, D.C., in his now famous I Have A Dream Speech.

For two consecutive years Commander Sparcino and the Dixie Defenders would, during Black History Month, present a program to this and surrounding communities, highlighting the role of not just the Black Confederate soldier, but of all those Africans of the South, free or indentured, who would earn a place of honor and dignity in the service of their homeland, the Confederate States of America. Most importantly was the bond of love and affection between Black and White that transcended the economic institution of slavery that Commander Sparcino worked so hard to highlight in this presentation.

So impressed by his efforts to reach out to the Black community in reconciliation, Ms. Carter and her committee would return the effort and do the unthinkable. They would cast aside the ignorance and prejudice of the political correct, and invite Commander Sparcino and the Sons of Confederate Veterans to march alongside their Judeo-Christian family, Red, Yellow, Black and White in the Martin Luther King Peace March.

Nothing that has happened in the 21st century comes close to depicting what the true meaning of A Step To Peace truly is than what Commander Sparcino and Ms. Carter brought to fruition on that day in Cross City, Florida. I hope they receive the Nobel Peace Prize and many more accolades for bringing the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners, and so many more, to the Table of Brotherhood.