Laurel - Information can be a powerful tool, especially in the hands of a mean-spirited segment of our society.
These ill-tempered louts use information as an instrument of intolerance for their public campaign of loathing and detestation.
Most recently, these hate-mongers have become engaged in a concerted effort to remove the Confederate battle symbol from the canton corner of the Mississippi flag - while besmirching the image of Southerners who fought and died for the Confederate cause in the War Between the States.
Tear down the red rag and burn it, these anti-flag zealots have shouted across Mississippi and the nation.
In their fervor to repeal history, they would ignore the valiant efforts of the more than 80,000 blacks who donned the gray uniforms of the Confederacy.
Rising above the din, Anthony Hervey of Oxford has become a booming voice in a thicket full of naysayers as he promotes the military role blacks played in the Confederacy.
As it is with other independent thinkers, Hervey has encountered his share of ridicule among the liberal black leadership for his stance on the Confederacy.
In fact, one oaf of a Jackson city councilman attempted to intimidate Hervey after a recent City Council meeting because he dared question the logic of changing the state flag.
But Hervey has heard it all before, and he is undaunted in promoting his fledgling Black Confederate Soldier Foundation.
"What we are doing is attacking cultural dependency, victim status, and blaming the white man for all of our problems," Hervey said earlier this month at the state convention of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. "I pick up the battle flag because of that, not for white people or black people, but for all people."
Hervey, a doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago, says that racial divisiveness is perpetrated by white and black liberals, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
The liberal left, under the guise of promoting equal employment opportunity and a level playing field, continues to sow the seeds of victimization. It's a theme Hervey wholeheartedly refutes.
So, the 34-year-old Hervey, attired in Confederate garb and battle flag in hand, has taken it upon himself to spread the word of the black Confederate across the Delta and on the Coast in person, "We want America to see its history for what had really happened rather than what the politicians and historians want us to see," he said.
Hervey said he is determined to protest against the potential usurpation of his constitutional right to wave the Confederate battle flag. "We have no industry in this state, high unemployment, poverty, and people are talking about getting rid of the battle flag," he said.
Hervey readily admits he once harbored liberal views, and blamed whites for his shortcomings and difficulties. Now he is seeing that the so-called black leadership has it all wrong, and that their one-note mantra is not speaking for the will of people of color, and apparently never has.
"The real racists are the ones who will not pick up the battle flag," Hervey said. "When I pick up the battle flag it hurts, because this cloth reminds me of how stupid I used to be - making white people feel guilty." You can visit Mr. Hervey's website at www.BlackConfederate.com
Donald V. Adderton is editor of the Delta Democrat Times. You can contact him by mail at 988 N. Broadway, Greenville, MS 38701, telephone (662) 335-1155, or e-mail donald_adderton@link.freedom.com.
10/19/04