Confederate Heritage Rally 2012
Richmond ,VA
February 25All roads lead to Richmond! The 2012 Heritage Rally took place in Richmond, Va where the permanent government of the Confederate States of America established its capitol and formed its government.
The day was windy but the skies clear as the Southern people gathered to mark this event.
Here is the article that ran the next day in the Richmond paper:
Richmond Times-DispatchBy: Karin Kapsidelis | Richmond Times Dispatch
Published: February 26, 2012With chants of "God save the South," several hundred Civil War re-enactors marched down Monument Avenue on Saturday for a Southern pride rally at the Robert E. Lee statue. Battle flags rustled in blustering winds as Sons of Confederate Veterans color guard units representing more than a dozen states paraded in formation.
One unit chanted:
What do we do?
Kill Yankees
How many?
All of them
It was a decidedly different tone from the inclusive nature of official commemorations of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. This event was described as a Heritage Rally marking the Sesquicentennial of the War for Southern Independence.
A small plane with a banner reading "Richmond, Embrace Your Confederate History" circled the gathering as speakers denounced Abraham Lincoln and praised Lee and Jefferson Davis.
"What a wonderful day to be in the Capital of the Confederacy," Louisiana resident Chuck McMichael, past national commander in chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, told the crowd.
Michael Rose, the Virginia commander, expressed outrage that the General Assembly considered a bill establishing a holiday to honor Lincoln "in Virginia " and drew cheers when he said it had been killed in committee.
The national event commemorated the establishment of the Confederate government in Richmond and the inauguration of Davis as president on Feb. 22, 1862.
Capitol Police estimated the crowd at between 300 and 400. One officer shooed away two passers-by who stopped to shout obscenities at the group, but the event drew little other attention.
However, two African-American women who joined the rally were the center of attention for some at the rally.
Karen Cooper of Chesterfield County said she was there "because I love the Constitution. … I’m a big states’ rights person."
Barbara Marthal of Tennessee wore a "Sunday-go-to-meeting" traditional dress from the era and posed for pictures for other rally participants with her husband, Bill Harris, who is white.
Marthal said her "third-great-grandfather" was a slave who fought for the Confederacy as a way to gain his freedom and because an army was invading his homeland.
"He fought for what he thought was right," she said. "It’s part of my history. I live in the South. My ancestors all lived in the South."
Harris said one of his slave-owning ancestors hid in a smokehouse with two mules to save them from the Yankees.
"Of course I get questions," Marthal said, "because we haven’t told our history. When we’re brave enough to talk about our entire history, then it won’t seem odd."
See some photos of the event HERE
On The Web: http://confederate150.com/2012.html