Sep 17, 2009 10:34 am US/Eastern
Veterans Day Parade Bans Confederate Flag
Flag Was Flown During Last Year's Veterans Day Parade
NAACP Wanted To Make Sure It's Never Flown Again
HOMESTEAD (CBS4) ―
The Veterans Day parade that will be held in Homestead later this year will be missing one controversial symbol: The Confederate battle flag.
That's because organizers decided to ban the flag from the parade after much back-and-forth debate. For some, the flag is a symbol of Southern pride. But others say it's a symbol of the country's racist past.
Initially, the organizers – the Homestead/ Florida City Chamber of Commerce's Military Affairs Committee – had agreed to allow the flag. But they reversed that decision on Wednesday after Jeffrey Wander, the committee chairman, said he sent out emails asking for people's opinions. A majority said he should ban the flag.
``Due to the importance of this issue and the future of the largest Veterans Day Parade in South Florida, I felt that the motion should be presented to the entire membership of the MAC,'' Wander wrote, according to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald.
Now, the change has prompted some confusion among groups participating in the parade including the Sons of Confederate Veterans. A commander with the group said he wondered if they would change their minds again.
``I can even envision that there won't be a parade after all of the attempts by the NAACP to threaten the sponsors of the parade into submission,'' Greg Kalof of the Sons of Confederate Veterans said in an e-mail to the newspaper. ``It's a sad state of affairs when a veterans group, like the Sons of Confederate Veterans, are told that they cannot carry the one flag that represents their group, their ancestors and their heritage.''
But many cheered the decision to ban the flag.
``Obviously, I am pleased to see that the wider membership of the MAC had voted the way one had hoped it would vote,'' said Brad Brown, political action chair of the Miami-Dade branch of the NAACP.
(© MMIX CBS Television Stations. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed material for this report)
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