Dear Ms. Lunelle,
As you know too well, all one has to do is to put the Southern Cross in hand, stand, or walk down a beaten path, and eventually you are going to pose for a picture, answer a lot about why, do a lot of waving and uplifting of the spirits of Gods Southern people, with a few Yanks thrown into boot. The need to so do was overwhelming as the scalawag Chancellor down at Ole Miss. had defied a court ordered injunction and began to change street names that bore Confederate signage , while using Black folks as his excuse to do so.
First it had been the Mascot Colonel Reb, now the street names, with plans to remove the Confederate dead whose final resting place lie behind the coliseum, and then to the Confederate soldiers monument that serves as a testimonial to those who stood to fight that man who would burn Oxford to the ground. And there was this:
Rep. John F. Harris, former slave, Republican member, Mississippi House of Representatives; Representing Washington County vote on Bill to appropriate $10,000 to complete the Confederate Monument on the Grounds of the State Capitol. The Clarion Ledger , February 23, 1890:
"Mr. Speaker ! I have arisen here in my place to offer a few words on the bill. I have come from a sick bed,, and was forced to struggle up here leaning on the arm of a friend. I stand here in considerable pain. Perhaps it was not prudent for me to come.
But , Sir, I could not rest quietly in my room, sick though I am , and allow this discussion to pass without contributing to it a few remarks of my own.
I was sorry to hear the speech of the young gentleman from Marshall County. I am sorry that any son of a soldier should go on record as opposed to the erection of a monument in the honor of the brave dead.
And Sir, I am convinced that had he seen what I saw at Seven Pines and in the seven days' fighting around Richmond, the battle fields covered with the mangled forms of those who fought for their and their country's honor , he would not have made that speech. When the news came that the South was to be invaded those men went forth to fight for what they believed , and they made no requests for monuments to commemorate their brave deeds and holy sacrifices. But they died, and their virtues should be remembered.
Sir , I went with them. I too wore the gray, the same color that my master wore. We stayed four long years, and if that sad war had gone on till now, I would have been there yet. I know what it all meant, and I understand the meaning of my words, and when I say that I would have been with my country men still had the war continued until this day.
I want to honor those brave men who died for their convictions.
When my mother died, I was a boy. Who, Sir , then acted the part of a mother to the orphaned slave boy but my"old Missus? - Were she living now, or could she speak to me from those high realms where are gathered the sainted dead , she would tell me to vote for this bill.
And Sir, I shall vote for it. I want it known to all the world that my vote was given in favor of the bill to erect a monument in honor of the Confederate dead."
On Saturday morning, October 4, 2014, on Highway 7 South, at the Fayette County Line leading into Oxford, Mississippi , alongside the Honorable General Paul McClaren, and not to forget the Honorable Mike whose last name alludes my memory, we would post the Southern Cross. Mike in the cornfield a with a huge Flag at our backs.
On Sunday morning, October 5, 2014, alongside Mrs. Debbie Sidle, and the Mississippi Flaggers that she heads, the Sons of Confederate Veterans Mechanized Calvary, and many other concerned Southerners; General Paul and I would join in posting the Southern Cross at the Confederate Soldiers Monument and around the Court House building in downtown Oxford. The sign that Anthony Ervy, a young Black man who was don in the uniform of the Confederate soldier with Battle flag in hand, appropriately read: " Don't just
be a Rebel on game day, referring to the support shown for the Ole Miss. Rebels who had just defeated the Alabama Tide football team. I look very much forward to making a Stand in Oxford again. God bless you!
be a Rebel on game day, referring to the support shown for the Ole Miss. Rebels who had just defeated the Alabama Tide football team. I look very much forward to making a Stand in Oxford again. God bless you!
Your brother,
HK
Recipient of the Horace L. Hunley Award
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