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Former NAACP chief defends Confederate flag
From Staff Reports
Shortly after the slogan “Black Lives Matter” was spray-painted on a Confederate monument in downtown Asheville, H.K. Edgerton stood with a Confederate flag, telling those passing by why he wanted it to continue to fly.
Edgerton, a former president of the North Carolina NAACP and one of few African-American members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, was outside the monument waving the Confederate flag soon after the graffiti was removed.
He said the graffiti artist protested incorrectly.
“I’m not going to blame it on a Yankee, because I’ve seen some Southern folk around here that are real questionable too, that don’t know anything about who they are and their families and the honorable people in the Southland of America... red, yellow, black, white and brown!” Edgerton told news reporters.
Meanwhile, the vandalism involving spray-paint occurred near the foot of the Vance Memorial in Pack Square early on the morning of June 23.
The incident was reported just after 2 a.m., according to Asheville Police Department.
The city’s Street Maintenance Department was already in the area and reportedly removed the spray-painted slogan “Black lives matter” quickly.
The APD said no arrests have been made.
The Asheville landmark commemorates the life of Zebulon Vance, a Civil War senator, governor and first colonel of the 26th North Carolina regiment.
Restoration of the monument was completed earlier in June, when a rededication ceremony was held. (See adjoining story for details on the rededication.)
The vandalism is part of a trend targeting monuments dedicated to the leaders and soldiers of the Confederacy in a half-dozen states, where the landmarks stand tall in parks and outside government buildings.
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