AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Eleven years ago, when the
NAACP stepped up a campaign to remove the Confederate battle flag from
statehouses and other government buildings across the South, it found an
opponent in Rick Perry.
Texas had a pair of bronze plaques with symbols of
the Confederacy displayed in its state Supreme Court building. Perry, then
lieutenant governor, said they should stay put, arguing that Texans
"should never forget our history."
It's a position Perry has taken consistently when
the legacy of the Civil War has been raised, as have officials in many of the
other former Confederate states. But while defense of Confederate symbols and
Southern institutions can still be good politics below the Mason-Dixon line,
the subject can appear in a different light when officials seek national
office.
For Perry, now Texas governor for 11 years and in
the top tier of Republican presidential candidates, a racial issue is already
dogging him.
He took criticism over the weekend for a rock
outside the Texas hunting camp his family once leased that had the name
Niggerhead painted on it. Perry's campaign says the governor's father painted
over the rock to cover the name soon after he began leasing the site in the
early 1980s and says the Perry family never controlled, owned or managed the
property. But rival Herman Cain, the only black Republican in the race, says
the rock symbolizes Perry's insensitivity to race.
A related issue may rise this fall when Texas
decides whether to allow specialty license plates featuring the Confederate
flag. The plates have been requested by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a
nonprofit organization Perry has supported over the years. A state board he
appointed will decide.
The NAACP says its initiative against
"glorification" of slave-state symbols remains ongoing. "The
romanticism around the Old South," said Hilary Shelton, director of the
NAACP's Washington Bureau. "It's a view of history that ignores how racism
became a tool to maintain a system of supremacy and dominance."
Perry campaign spokesman Mark Miner did not return
messages seeking comment on the matter. But Granvel Block, the Texas Division
commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said the organization
appreciated Perry's position on such issues.
"I would give him high praise for saying
it," Block said. "Honoring your ancestors, it's something that the
Bible teaches."
The Confederate battle flag has been chief target
for the NAACP. The organization called for a boycott of South Carolina in 2000
for flying the banner over its statehouse. The state moved the flag to a
capitol memorial. In 2003, Georgia replaced its state flag, which included the
Confederate battle standard, with one that combined other elements from
previous state flags. Other institutions have scaled back their displays of
Confederate heritage. The University of Mississippi retired Colonel Rebel as
its on-field mascot.
In January 2000 the NAACP asked Texas to remove the
Confederate battle flag from plaques in the entryway of a building housing the
state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, saying it undermined the notion of
judicial equality. One of the 11-inch by 20-inch bronze plaques featured the
seal of the Confederacy and the other the image of the battle flag and quotations
from Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Perry wrote to the Sons of Confederate Veterans in
March 2000 that, "although this is an emotional issue, I want you to know
that I oppose efforts to remove Confederate monuments, plaques and memorials
from public property."
"I also believe that communities should decide
whether statues or other memorials are appropriate for their community,"
Perry wrote in the letter, one of several obtained by The Associated Press
under a public information request. "I believe that Texans should remember
the past and learn from it."
He added, "We should never forget our history,
but dwelling on the 19th century takes needed attention away from our future in
the 21st century."
Perry elaborated publically on the issue, saying,
"I think you've got a slippery slope when you start saying we're going to
start taking down every plaque or monument."
He wasn't the only prominent Texan defending the
plaques. Then-Gov. George W. Bush, himself running for president, initially
said they should remain but then reversed himself and authorized the state's
General Services Commission to replace the plaques with new ones saying equal
justice is available to all Texans "regardless of race, creed or
color."
The floor of the Texas Capitol's rotunda still
bears the seal of the Confederacy, and statues on the grounds memorialize Lee
and Confederate soldiers. But civil rights organizations consider the battle
flag the most objectionable symbol.
Public officials in Texas, as well as in the other
Southern states, are called upon periodically to honor Confederate causes
because related organizations observe its anniversaries. Block said the Sons of
Confederate Veterans was founded in 1896 and has 2,500 members statewide. Also
active is the Texas Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
In a 2005 letter, Perry welcomed attendees of a
benefit hosted by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. "By learning about the
past," he wrote, "we honor our ancestors' memories and contributions,
and appreciate the people and events that preceded the present." Perry's
great-great-grandfather David H. Hamilton fought at Gettysburg with the First
Texas Infantry.
Two years later, Perry issued a "Message from
the Governor" honoring Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross on what
would have been his 169th birthday. He noted Ross' service as a Confederate
brigadier general, two-time Texas governor and president of what became Texas
A&M University, calling him "one of the greats on whose shoulders our
modern day Texas rests." The Sons of Confederate Veterans maintains a
college scholarship fund in Ross' honor — despite accusations that Ross was
behind the murder of black prisoners of war in Mississippi.
Today, Block's organization wants to use the
Confederate flag license plate to raise money to pay for markers on Confederate
soldiers' graves. "I know that to some people it's an issue," he
said. "But our purpose is to honor our ancestors and to educate the public
on the true cause of the war."
The state Department of Motor Vehicles board tied
4-4 in an April vote because one of its members, Ramsay Gillman of Houston, was
absent. Gillman then died and Perry chose a new appointee, Raymond Palacios Jr.
of El Paso.
Palacios declined to comment on the issue. Members
won't vote on the plate until at least Nov. 9. A similar request from the Sons
of Confederate Veterans was denied two years ago, but the criteria have been
expanded, opening the door for approval this time. Texas has approved 276
specialty plates.
Perry hasn't commented. "This is a matter
before the board," said Lucy Nashed, a governor's office spokeswoman.
Matt Glazer, executive director of Progress, Texas,
a left-leaning advocacy group, said of Block's organization: "If they want
to put a sticker on their car, or fly the Confederate flag at their home or
business, that's up to them. But the state itself should not associate itself
with this racist relic."
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
