Dear Brother Vallante and SHNV Readers,
 
Thank you for your excellent defence ("defense" is spelled the Southern way without the Yankee "s") of matters related to the anti-intellectual National Park Service (an oxymoron) at Gettysburg.  http://lists.topica.com/lists/SouthernHeritage/read/message.html?mid=1721656278&sort=d&start=3740
Men like Latschar do not belong working with the Park Service.  Our tax monies pay his salary. Disgusting.  There are plenty of people who will insult us for free without our having to pay such a dolt cultural Marxist to do so.
 
When our Confederate Flag was lynched in Gettysburg a couple of years ago I called for a boycott of the park and city of Gettysburg. Instead, (a member) of the Virginia Sons of Confederate Veterans went to the park and led out in the singing of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. This was a traitor’s act that the SCV in the Virginia Division will not soon forget. They only lynched the flag instead of us because such people have never been man enough to lynch us though this was seriously discussed among many northerners decades after the war was over, the most noted of which was President James Garfield.  Yet, this was not seen as a hate crime because the open season on Southerners declared by Eric Phoner is still "open."
 
The Dunning school of thought about Southerners was not perfect but it was miles ahead of the cultural cleansing advocated by Eric Phoner. Now, a self-conscious Southerner who is proud of his heritage is automatically considered a criminal, and, as I was told by an FBI agent, "Reason enough for you to be place on the FBI’s PDP (Potentially Dangerous Person’s) List. I am on that list for being a member of The Sons of Confederate Veterans and The Military Order of the Stars and Bars of which I was a State officer . . . Chaplain.  Morris Dees assisted in getting me on that list. A country that places Gospel Minister’s on its PDP list because of whom they offer their services for, is a dangerous country.
 
The United States of America is no more our government now than it was during the War to Prevent Southern Independence, but for now it is our country. Like all revolutions the war ended up being something much more radical that its design at the beginning which was radical enough on its own.  George Washington reluctantly but resolutely hated his government and loved his country.
 
I have had a dream for the last 10 years of establishing Memorial Confederate Visitor’s Centers at all the major "Civil War" battlefields as a legitimate alternative to the current hate-the-Southern-bigot centers.
 
1. I would possibly start with Vicksburg that already has the start of such a center . . . then move on to Chancellorsville, Richmond, Fredricksburg,  Gettysburg, etc., wherever there is a National Park Civil War Visitors Center. This would likely be a 25-30 year project.
 
2. Each center would be located as close as physically possible to the main battlefield park entrance.
 
3. Each center could resemble a well-known building of the period that existed in that particular state, except for centers located in northern states; unless there was a strong Confederate leader or U.S. Founding Father from that State.
 
4. The Visitor’s centers would be named after a well-known civil or military Confederate leader from the state in which the visitor’s center is located.  For Richmond "The Robert E. Lee Confederate Visitors Center . . . for Chancellorsville "The Stonewall Jackson Visitors Center" . . . for Gettysburg "The George Picket Visitors Center," etc.  The name of the Battlefield would also be on the sign.  This could contribute to creating some appropriate regional pride.
 
5. The staff member would dress in adapted Confederate garb with tour guides dressed as Confederate soldiers.
 
6. These centers would focus on the story of the Confederate States of America and not on the United States of America.
 
7. Tours could be offered for free to all members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans who no doubt would soon become major contributors to these efforts.
 
8. The centers would offer a Speakers Bureau who would be available to organizations located in their State.
 
I have a thousand other ideas on how to make such centers work and become profitable for expanding our educational resources. Those who may have organizational or funding ideas are invited to contact me.
 
Deo Vindice.
 
Tim D. Manning, Sr.
Executive Director
North Carolina Heritage Foundation
         –and–
Director
Southern Patriot Shop
West Columbia, South Carolina
(336) 420-5355
TManning1@triad.rr.com