August 3, 2020

Sylva, North Carolina & the Confederate Cenotaph

Dear Ms. Lunelle,

On Monday, July 27, 2020, as I prepared to journey to Sylva, North Carolina, where later in the day its city council would meet to vote on whether to remove the Confederate soldiers Cenotaph from the county courthouse grounds, I would learn that fellow Sons of Confederate Veterans member, and one of my dearest friends, the Honorable C.D. Crawford’s mother would finally, after a very long battle with the grim reaper, succumb to death around midnight.

Lots of heartbreak and irony involved here. On Highway 74 leading into Sylva, I would pass the large Battle flag posted on the Crawford family grounds where Pinckney Crawford, a family man servant to Ms. Madelaide Crawford, was renowned for his efforts to stop the Union forces on several occasions from burning or looting the family home place. And, he could be seen many a day brandishing the Southern Cross in and around Sylva. Pinckney would remain with the Crawford family until his death, and is buried in the family cemetery.

The irony for me on this day is that the Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp Commander, the Honorable Mike Paris, is the first cousin of C.D., and I am an Honorary Life Member of the Jackson Rangers Camp 1917. I had alerted Commander Paris that I would post the colors of the Southern soldier at the end of Main Street in Sylva on this morning.

And, even though I had done so many times in the past there, Commander Paris, on this day, expressed his concerns for my safety because of the domestic terrorist groups of Black lives Matter and Antifa, who had come to force the council in voting to remove the War Memorial of the Confederate soldier. Commander Paris promised that he would send some members of the camp to stand alongside me for my safety.

Young Brent of the camp was the first to arrive, and marveled at the act of love, messages of thanks coming from the throng of cars passing by; the clapping of so many, and the sounds of “God bless y’all.” And then it happened; a car with two Spanish men, one young white man, and a black man, would slowly pass us by with the Spanish driver shouting expletives that are too foul to repeat. And then came a can of Sprite hurled at me by one of the cowards.

Commander Paris would arrive shortly afterwards with several more camp members and they would accompany me as I marched through downtown, where the Mayor had declared that no Confederate flag would be allowed to be flown.

After receiving more show of support from the citizens, and posing for more photos, we would return to where the day had begun. I was so proud of the Native American lady of whom I wrongly identified as black, as she sought answers about the Confederate Cause not only for herself, but also for her two young sons as well. I was blessed to have my last cherished copy of the Honorable Mike Scruggs’ “Un-Civil War” book that I gave up to her.

I would later find out that the council would end up in a split decision, and would now have to have the county commission determine the fate of the Cenotaph. My prayer is that this body will have the courage that so many politicians have not shown as they succumb to the will of these lawless anarchists who have invaded our homeland once again using the unsuspecting black populous as their weapon of choice as was done during the so called period of Southern Reconstruction that only left decades of mistrust and hate levied against them.

So many of my black babies have expressed resipiscence to their Southern white family for what their families were duped into doing against their homeland and them during Reconstruction, and don’t want no part in the circle of history that has come again. God bless you!

Your brother,

HK

Chairman, Board of Advisors Emeritus, Southern Legal Resource Center
Member, Save Southern Heritage Florida
Loyal Southerner
Honorary Life Member, Isaac Newton Giffen Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Honorary Life Member, Forrest Orphans Camp 1744, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Honorary Life Member, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia Orders of the Confederate Rose
Honorary Associate Member, Abner Baker Chapter 14, United Daughters of the Confederacy
President, Southern Heritage 411