Va Flaggers Update: VMFA/Wall Street Journal/Protestors on the Boulevard
by Grayson Jennings, Va Flagger

Several weeks ago, we were contacted by a reporter with the Wall Street Journal who was planning a documentary on the Battle Flag.  She requested an interview and information on the location of our flag sites so that they could get footage of the flags for the documentary.

Last Wednesday, we met with the reporter and her camera crew on the Boulevard in Richmond, during our weekday flagging of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA).  She interviewed several of our Flaggers, recorded footage of the flagging and of the Chapel, and received information on the situation at the Confederate Memorial Chapel.

We had over a dozen flaggers out on the Boulevard, and a good chance to chat with folks about our flags and the desecration of the Confederate Memorial Chapel at the hands of the VMFA.

We felt good about the information we shared and the very positive afternoon on the Boulevard. Little did we know what was unfolding in Charleston, SC, even as the filming was taking place…

On Friday, we began receiving requests for interviews from the major news networks to comment on the situation in Charleston. We released this statement that afternoon…

“The Virginia Flaggers join the entire country in mourning the loss of the 9 men and women killed in the massacre at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC on Wednesday evening. We offer our deepest sympathies to those who lost loved ones and friends in the tragedy, and pledge to continue to pray for comfort and peace for those who are grieving after the senseless act of violence.

We condemn any and all such acts of savagery, and call for swift and severe punishment for anyone who is found guilty of having any part in this heinous crime.

At the same time, we are deeply saddened to watch the disgusting attempts by some media representatives, self-appointed “historians”, activists, and even elected officials to exploit this national tragedy by using it for political purposes, and as an excuse to advance their hate-filled agenda, by calling for an all-out war on the Confederate flag and our Confederate heritage, beginning with the removal of the flag from a Veterans’ memorial on the Capitol grounds in South Carolina, over 100 miles away. These blatant attempts to incite violence and further divide the citizens of this country are despicable, and The Virginia Flaggers call on all those of Southern ancestry to resist any and all endeavors to use this tragedy as a platform to erase our history and attack the honor of our Confederate veterans.

We have received several requests for interviews by national media outlets, but at this time, feel strongly that media attention, and that of the entire country, should be focused on honoring the memory of those who were killed, supporting their families and friends in their time of grief, and securing swift and severe punishment for those responsible. For this reason, and for a brief time, we will observe a moratorium on public interviews or media appearances on this subject, as a courtesy to the victims’ loved ones, and in reverence to the memory of those whose lives were cut short in the shooting.”

The Wall Street Journal piece was released Friday, and was, of course, changed to exploit the Charleston situation, and although we were disappointed in the change of focus, we were glad to be able to provide at least a representation, since it included interviews with anti-flag representatives including John Coski of the museum FORMERLY known as the museum of the Confederacy,  and the Richmond woman responsible for the unsuccessful but highly inflammatory petition to stop the first I-95 Battle Flag.

Yesterday,  we gathered for our weekend flagging. The Va Flaggers have been flagging the VMFA Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for almost four years…with one goal and purpose…to protest the removal of Confederate Battle Flags from the Confederate Battle Memorial Chapel.

Apparently worked into a frenzy by the news media, activists, attention-seeking politicians, and race-baiters, who have shamelessly used the tragedy in Charleston to advance their hate-filled agenda, these local folks came to the Boulevard on Saturday to “counter protest” holding signs that read everything from “end white supremacy” to “black lives matter”, none of which have anything to do with our flags, or the cause for which we stand.

?We were certainly not surprised, considering the climate of hate and misplaced blame that has been created by these folks.

We obviously support their right to assemble peacefully and make their “points”, and hope they appreciate that adding folks to the sidewalk, even if they are not working with us, draws more attention to our Cause, and increases the spotlight on the VMFA…and all the while we don’t have to do anything except continue to stand, which we WILL do.

We believe it’s the least we can do, considering the sacrifice our Confederate Veterans made for the citizens of the Commonwealth.

President Obama has weighed in on the situation and thinks the Confederate flag should be in a museum……we can’t help bu wonder why, then, does he not use his influence to have the Confederate Battle Flags restored at Washington & Lee Univ. for Robert E.Lee’s tomb…?  (H/T to Lonnie Wadsworth)

The Virginia Flaggers strongly believe that the Confederate flag belongs wherever we…the sons of daughters of the men who fought and died beneath her SAY it belongs!

?RETURN the flags!

RESTORE the honor!

Grayson Jennings
Va Flaggers

?

Monday, June 22nd:  Susan will be speaking at the June meeting of the Fincastle Rifles, Camp #1326,  SCV 7:00 p.m. Woodman of the World, 2306 Peters Creek Rd., NW, Roanoke, VA

Thursday, June 25th:  Flagging the VMFA, 200 N. Boulevard, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Friday, June 26th – Saturday, June 27th:   Annual meeting and pilgrimage of the Descendants of Point Lookout Association, Point Lookout, MD.  Susan will be speaking at the meeting on Friday night.

Wednesday, July 1st:  Susan will be speaking at the July meeting of the Edmund Ruffin FireEaters Camp #3000, Mechanicsville, VA.  Anna’s Italian Restaurant, 7009 Mechanicsville Tunrpike, Mechanicsville VA 23111.  Meet at 6:00 to order supper, meeting at 7:00.

Wednesday, July 8th:  Susan will be speaking at the July meeting of the Maj Gen Isaac Ridgeway Trimble Camp #1836, Catonsville, MD.  Meeting starts at 7:30, at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #69, 2832 Nine Mile Circle, Catonsville, MD 21228.

Thursday, September 10th:  Susan is scheduled to speak at the September meeting of the Ivy Ritchie Camp #1744, SCV, Albermarle NC.  6:30 p.m.  Jay’s Seafood Restaurant, 40439 Stony Gap Rd, Albermarle, NC 28001

Saturday, December 12th:  Susan will be speaking at the Christmas Dinner of the John Ingraham Camp #1977, Chickamauga, GA. More details to follow.

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