From Staff Reports

An Erwin High School student was honored on Jan. 26 in Asheville with what has been described as “the highest award and medal” that the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ national organization can present.

The student, Grayson Clark, 15, caught flak — at school and in the community — in a public controversy that erupted after he wore a Confederate uniform and shouldered a rifle musket prop as a member of the JROTC color guard during a half-time ceremony at an Erwin High football game this past fall

At the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ recent ceremony, Clark, escorted by his mother, Mel, received the H.L. Hunley Award, from Jason Boshers, SCV’s national commander-in-chief.

The ceremony was held during the monthly meeting of Zebulon Baird Vance Camp 15 Sons of Confederate Veterans at the Masonic Lodge on Haywood Street in downtown Asheville.

In addition, Clark was presented at the ceremony with the following:

• A membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

 â€¢ A letter of appreciation from the Vance Camp from Tom Vernon, the area unit’s commander.

• A letter of appreciation — and a $100 check — from the Judah P. Benjamin Camp 2610.

• A “genuine” alligator belt that is valued — reportedly — at $600, from Phil Walters, who is billed in a press release as “the renowned and famous ‘alligator hunter” — and who serves as the adjutant of the Judah P. Benjamin Camp

In a write-up of the meeting, H.K. Edgerton, an Asheville-based Southern heritage activist and an honorary life member of the Vance Camp, stated the following:

 â€œGrayson (Clark) was the young man from Erwin High School who had donned the uniform of the Southern soldier in answer to the charge presented by his Junior ROTC commander to represent — in dress — a soldier of a past era during an intermission at a school football game.”

Further, Edgerton reported, “A beating down of him (Clark) was soon to follow. He would recant that he was told to return the uniform so that it could be destroyed so that no other student would repeat his actions.”

When pressed by the Daily Planet later as to exactly what happened in the “beating down” that he referenced in regards to Clark, Edgerton explained to the newspaper that nothing physical had happened to Clark, but rather that he was criticized, “as if he did something terrible,” by wearing a Confederate uniform.

Edgerton, who is a black Asheville native who lived here through the Jim Crow era and beyond and at one time was the head of the local NAACP, also stated the following:

“I would promise Grayson that in the month of February, in celebration of Black History Month, I would not only post the Southern Cross in honor of the black Confederate soldier at his school, but also in honor to him.

“Several of the camp members promised that they, too, would join with me. A standing ovation for this young hero would follow!” Edgerton wrote. 

In an interview with the Daily Planet on Feb. 9, Edgerton said that, even today, “I don’t think he (Clark) understands, fully, the significance of what he did. I’m so proud of him!”

 In speaking of the significance of the visit by Jason Boshers, the top leader of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Edgerton said, “No commander-in-chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans has visited a meeting of the Vance Camp in Asheville since 2008.”

He added that Boshers felt Clark’s courage was of such significance that he made the trip to the Asheville meeting so that he personally could bestow the SCV’s H.L. Hunley Award — the organization’s top honor — on young Clark.

(“H. L. Hunley, often referred to as Hunley, CSS H. L. Hunley, or as CSS Hunley, was a submarine of the Confederate States of America that played a small part in the American Civil War. Hunley demonstrated the advantages and the dangers of undersea warfare,” according to Wikipedia.)

“It says a great deal” that the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ commander-in-chief made a point of being at the awards meeting, Edgerton told the Daily Planet. “He (Clark) got the appreciation he deserved” from the Sons of Confederate Veterans.  

In an interview with Daily Planet on Feb. 12, Mel, Clark’s mother, said that  “it was Army ROTC Night at the football game” when her son wore the controversial uniform.

“He chose that one (the Confederate uniform) because he thought it was ‘cool.’ He liked the whole time period” of the Civil War... There was another person (in the color guard) wearing a Northern (yankee) uniform, but nobody complained about that.”

Further, she said, “Some of them (other color guard members) held flags, while others had gun props,” as did her son.

“He got the uniform from somewhere in the school. They’ve had that uniform, along with all the other military uniforms, at the school” for years, “and someone (at least once before) has worn it...

“They had every history timeline of every uniform there (at Erwin High) from the (U.S.) Army,” so, she said, her son pondered the possibilities and chose the Confederate uniform that was in the school’s collection.

“Nothing was said that night (of the halftime show), then the next thing we know —  - two weeks later —- we saw it on (Asheville television station) WLOS (News 13) and in the (Asheville) Citizen Times.”

Shocked  by the unwanted publicity her son received, Clark wondered, “Why are they posting my son’s face on the news, as if he’s a racist?

“Also, I was getting attacked on social media as (being called) ‘a racist.’ My mom’s side of the family is from Sylva. They’ve worked in the mountains and had history there since the 1600s. Not sure if they had Confederate history, but I’m almost sure there is Confederate history.... 

“My whole family is mixed cultures. My aunt is from the Philippines, my great-uncle is from India and my boyfriend is Asian and white. I’ve always been raised that ‘it didn’t matter what color you are, you respected everyone.’ My mom taught us to love everyone, no matter what race they are. We (always) defended other races....”

After the uproar on social media following the mainstream media reports, Clark said her son was called to the office by school officials who told him “there was ‘stuff’ going on online and, ‘if anyone said anything negative to him, to let them know.’ He was just like, ‘I don’t care what anyone says. I was just doing this for the ROTC.’ He loves the ROTC.”” 

What’s more, Clark told the Daily Planet,
“Some people online said he (her son) was standing up for his rights, but it wasn’t even about that. He was just a 15-year-old boy....”

She reiterated, “He thought it was a ‘cool’ uniform — and found the history of the Civil War” fascinating.

“It wasn’t like he was wearing a uniform to make people mad,” Clark said of her son.

Meanwhile, Edgerton, the Southern heritage activist and honorary SCV member, told the Daily Planet in a separate Feb. 12 interview that young Clark “chose the Confederate uniform and I guess it just was in his heart to do that — to represent a Confederate soldier. 

“He had no thoughts of racism (in the uniform choice) … and I suppose he may have seen me” around, clad in a Confederate uniform, over the years, and that that also may have influenced Clark’s decision.  

“He just had no idea that the reaction would be what it was— totally anti-Southern, which is the very thing I find myself fighting all of my time now and these people (Northerners) have moved into our homeland” and now dominate local values.

While no disciplinary action was taken against young Clark, as he apparently did not break any school rules, Edgerton said that the actions by schools officials were insufficient.

“Somebody in the school system should have had the courage to say, ‘Grayson, hold your head high!’” Edgerton asserted.