| DURHAM, NC - February 18 - As Texas Governor George W. Bush enters the South Carolina
Republican primary this weekend - a state rocked by controversy over the
Confederate battle flag's presence over the state house - evidence is
mounting of a questionable relationship between Bush and far-right
neo-Confederate groups, according to an article published today by a leading
Southern journal.
The story, published on the website of Southern Exposure magazine,
http://www.southernstudies.org/southernexposure.asp, and which will be featured in the print version of the
magazine in early March, reveals that Governor Bush has "long-standing close
ties with - and offers financial support to - neo-Confederate groups and
causes."
Among the evidence of Bush's questionable associations documented in the
story:
* * * Governor Bush is listed as a donor to the Museum of the Confederacy,
based in Richmond, Virginia, as a supporter of the Museum's annual ball - an
event held in a slave hall, which has drawn fire for its celebration of the
Southern Confederacy.
* * * A letter on Texas Governor stationary, dated January 1, 1996, shows
Gov. Bush congratulating the 100th anniversary of the United Daughters of
the Confederacy - a group known for glorifying the Confederate past, and
which has been criticized for sponsoring books by extreme-right authors who,
among other claims, downplay the harms of the slave trade.
* * * Bush also penned an official state letter honoring the Sons of
Confederate Veterans in 1996, a group which claims to be mainstream, but
which has repeatedly offered a platform for avowedly white supremacist
organizations like the Council of Conservative Citizens.
"This puts Bush's silence on the South Carolina battle flag controversy into
perspective," says editor Chris Kromm, editor of Southern Exposure and
author of the story. "Gov. Bush has gone out of his way to embrace the
agenda of the Old South - a position that, if made public, would alienate
most forward-looking Southerners, not to mention the rest of the country."
Most disturbing, Kromm says, is Bush's support for the Museum of the
Confederacy ball, held at the Tredgar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia,
where slaves worked to build war material for the Confederate Army. Each
year, the ball draws hundreds of all-white guests in period costume to a
hall festooned with Confederate flags.
In 1996, the ball drew "astonishment and outrage" from black leaders in the
city - which is 55% African-American - according to the New York Times.
Backers said the ball was designed "not to celebrate the era of slavery, but
to tell a story," the Times reported. But detractors note the Museum and the
ball show clear sympathy for the Confederate cause. The title of the 1996
event, "Bonnie Blue Ball," was an open celebration of the Bonnie Blue flag,
the flag of secession of the Confederacy.
Critics also point to the Museum's selling of far-right literature, and the
appointment of leading new-Confederate ideologue Ludwell Johnson as a museum
fellow in 1993 - author of "Is the Confederacy Obsolete?" and other calls
for the revival of the old Southern system.
Documents made available to Southern Exposure show that Bush was listed as a
"Donor to Fund Raising Events" in the Museum's Annual Report. The Museum has
clarified that Bush did not actually give money, but that he did write a
fundraising letter to garner funds for the ball.
"Bush not only endorsed the pro-Confederate ball," Kromm observes, "he
offered to raise money for it - one of the strongest signs of support a
public figure can offer."
Bush's support for the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of
Confederate Veterans also comes under fire in the article. While these
groups claim a mission of promoting "heritage, not hate," the magazine
offers examples from the groups' histories that support the view of Dr.
James McPherson - a Yale historian and Civil War expert - that "[These
groups] are dedicated to celebrating the Confederacy and rather
thinly-veiled support for white supremacy."
Southern Exposure - published by the non-profit Institute for Southern
Studies - is a past winner of the National Magazine Award and the George
Polk Award for courageous reporting, and has gained a national reputation
for its coverage of political and social issues in the South.
###
|
