Back to the main articles page
An Open Letter & Open Report / Munn Park
January 24, 2020
Munn Park
Dear Ms. Lunelle,
On January 22, 2020, don in the uniform of the Southern soldier, with the Southern Cross in hand, alongside members of Save Southern Heritage Florida, its lead Attorney, the Honorable David McCallister, several citizens of the city and county, with a Ledger newspaper reporter (Sara-Megan Walsh) recording our every move and thoughts, we would make our way through the streets of downtown Lakeland, Florida, and around the perimeter of Historic Munn Park, where the Cenotaph of the Confederate soldier was illegally removed to a supposed Veterans cemetery.
The cemetery is located on the lands that used to be the “Black Historic District,” where many of its citizens are still voicing their disapproval from being uprooted from their properties by the city with the support of the historic commission who, too, betrayed the War Memorial as they advocated support for the illegal removal.
The great irony is that these citizens were asked to come before the council by the NAACP to voice the same prepared talking points published on the Southern Poverty Law Center website to support the removal of the Confederate soldiers Cenotaphs wherever they are found. Now to find it housed right smack in the former Black Historic District.” Poetic Justice for the integrated Confederate Armed Forces.”
At the end of the day, I would issue the following prepared statement as I thanked everyone for coming out on this chilly day: “I am very thankful that the Federal Court has agreed to hear our plea to return the Cenotaph of the Confederate dead that was illegally removed. This corrupt council, and its damn Yankee cohort (Selvege) knew that after reading the polls, and hearing from so many of its citizens, that if they held a referendum,” they would loose.
My sincere hope is that the court will rule in our favor, and make the city put the Cenotaph right back here in Munn Park where it belongs. God bless you!
Your brother,
HK
Chairman, Board of Advisors Emeritus, Southern Legal Resource Center
Member, Save Southern Heritage Florida
Honorary Life Member, Augusta Jane Evans Chapter 2640, United Daughters of the Confederacy
Recipient, Virginia Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans Robert E. Lee Award
Recipient, Southern Legal Resource Center Gold Medal
Honorary Life Member, Zebulon Vance Camp 15, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Honorary Life Member, Kentucky Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Honorary Life Member, Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Honorary Life Member, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia Orders of the Confederate Rose
President, Southern Heritage 411