A recent Post editorial mentioned some folks who were celebrating Confederate Memorial Day by peacefully displaying Confederate flags in uptown Salisbury. The column also contained statements that, by innuendo, were misleading and could be construed as linking supporters of Southern history and heritage to the infamous hate monger and Ku Klux Klan leader, David Duke.

Duke runs the National Organization For European American Rights (NOFEAR), whose name and ideology echoes Klan-like exclusivity. In Virginia, NOFEAR requested that the governor designate a month for Confederate history studies. Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) backed a similar proposal. But Gilmore saw only David Duke’s name and petition for a European-American History and Heritage month, with its whites-only ring. Accordingly, Gilmore cancelled any hope of a Confederate history month in Virginia.

When the KKK was reborn the night before Thanksgiving in 1915, a large cross was burned on top of Stone Mountain, Ga., the first ever burned in a Klan ceremony. Strictly a WASP organization, the KKK adopted anti-Catholicism as a cause. Next came anti-Semitism followed by anti-black rhetoric. The early Klan directed many public whippings and terrorist activities at white men, and a few women, while proudly adopting the U. S. flag and the Latin (Christian) cross as its symbols. The fiery cross became the foremost icon of terror and bigotry across the country.

In earlier days, many Protestant churches — mainly Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist — and their pastors welcomed robed and hooded Klansman into Sunday services. Entering as a group, the Klansmen went to reserved pews. Anti-Catholicism peaked.

In Salisbury, at least eight churches sit within walking distance of mid-town. They include the mainline denominations — Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopal and Catholic. Should we infer by history that Protestant churches are hotbeds of hate, and that Catholics and Jews should beware? And since guilt by even the thinnest thread of association seems boundless, and the Klan has used the Christian cross as a symbol of hate and terror for more than 85 years, should all churches consider removing crosses from their sanctuaries or from atop their steeples?

Or, should we accept that many of the ecumenical fences have come down in those past decades: that Protestants, Catholics and Jews are all children of one God? And that the cross, as a symbol of faith, endures in a spirit far greater than the misappropriated symbol of hate that a misguided few let it become? If you agree with that, you can understand how a growing number of us feel about Southern, or Confederate, history and heritage and the flags that signify them.

Belying popular belief, Southern heritage is not white only. Black, White, Hispanic, and Native Americans served in the Confederate armies, which were integrated and far more tolerant across racial, ethnic, and religious lines than Union forces.

Recently, I attended Confederate Memorial Day services at Elmwood Cemetery in Charlotte, one of few places where a Confederate flag flies continuously over a cluster of graves and monuments. The service dedicated memorials to individuals and local units that served the Confederacy during the War Between the States.

Prominent Charlottean Walter Klein, a Jew, SCV member, and longtime friend, dedicated a monument to Samuel Wittkowsky, as Confederate re-enactors fired a salute. Wittkowsky was a Jewish businessman, strong supporter of the Confederacy, and close friend of Governor Zeb Vance.

At the Charlotte Hebrew Cemetery on Statesville Avenue, another monument was dedicated to Pvt. Louis Leon, author of “Diary of a Confederate Soldier.” Leon was both a Jew and Hispanic, coming from a segment of history virtually unheard of in public schools.

Hispanic Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492. Most of the immigrants settled in New Orleans, Savannah, Charleston, and parts of North Carolina and Virginia. They continued to speak a dialect of Spanish written in Hebrew known as “Ladino.”

As an SCV member and a Roman Catholic, I vigorously support the accurate, straightforward teaching of 18th and 19th century history, emphasizing events leading to and including the War Between the States. An accurate representation of that period is in short supply in most of our public schools and colleges, which is why with thousands of others, I favor seeing considerable change in history awareness and curricula. We, too, would like to see the David Dukes “strike their tents” and disappear from the public scene.

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Former Salisbury resident Bill Ward is a writer, historical researcher, and public speaker living in Matthews. Contact him at wardwriters@alltel.net .