Confederate Flags at Historic Old Bayview Cemetery Has Neighbors Upset
Erik Rosales
Story Created: May 1, 2008(Corpus Christi, May 1, 2008) At one time, The Old Bayview cemetery was the community burial ground for early Corpus Christi. In it are graves of pioneer settlers, veterans of the war of 1812, the Texas war for independence, the civil war, and even later conflicts. According to the Old Bayview Cemetery web site it’s also the oldest federal cemetery in Texas layed out by U.S. Army engineers while General and future President of the U.S. Zachary Taylor and his men were camped just before the Mexican War.
But an someone’s way of honoring it’s Confederate history, has some in the community crying foul.
There are Confederate flags placed near the markers of former Confederate soldiers.
Wanda Gonzales attends Saint Mathews Baptist Church, a congregation that’s predominately African American. The church is located just down the street from the cemetery. She and others saw a group place the flags on the graves this past weekend. They don’t know what group it was.
Church members say they understand its part of history, but it’s a history they don’t want to be reminded of on a daily basis. They are asking the organization who put them up, to take them down.
Kiii-TV News is now asking those who put up the flags to give us a call.
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