Alabama Democrat Receives Death Threats After Removing Confederate Flags From Public Property

An attorney and former Democratic lawmaker in Alabama who removed Confederate flags from city property may now face a lawsuit,?and has also received death threats for his actions.

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Image Via PennandSeaborn

Myron Penn freely admits that on Mother’s Day he removed tiny Confederate flags from the graves of soldiers on city property in Union Springs, Alabama, and defends his actions by saying:

?The reason why we picked them up is because the image of the flags in our community, a lot of people feel that they’re a symbol of divisiveness and oppression??I would think that no one in our community would have a problem with? my actions at all.?

But a firestorm has erupted among those who support displaying the Confederate flag in public.The publisher of Alabama Today,?Apryl Marie?Fogel, said Penn’s actions are a form of “disrespecting history” and added in an editorial:

?Penn was wrong but he was more than that. What he did appears to have broken the law.?

Broken the law? Fogel appears to be citing an Alabama law which forbids the defacing of gravestones.

Further, Fogel maintains that the flag is not, as?Penn claims, a symbol of anything negative:

?Experts have long noted the flag was never intended to be a symbol of racism and slavery. (It is)?a symbol to honor the sacrifice of patriots who were willing to die to protect this country and make sure it remained as the founders intended, as well as the history of the south. Not racism.?

But you lost the war, pinhead! And the loser is obligated to fly the victor’s flag, not their own. As for it not being a symbol of racism, I can only say this: The South fought the Civil War, first and foremost, to maintain the status quo of owning slaves. Anyone who says differently is so ignorant of historical reality that they should be forced to return to the third grade!

A spokesperson for the local chapter of Sons of Confederate Veterans says his group is “considering legal action” against Penn for removing the flags from the cemetery. And a group called Defenders of the Confederate Cross issued a statement which read, in part:

?While we DO NOT CONDONE acts of violence against any one, this has nothing to do with race, slavery, or oppression. This has alot to do with people walking on and disregarding Confederate heritage. In 1958 congress ruled confederate veterans are AMERICAN veterans and D.C.C. will see that they are treated as such. We will replace the flags that were illegally removed and keep a ever present eye on all Confederate Veterans graves!?

Myron Penn has stood his ground and says what he did was in the hope of healing his state and uniting all people:

“We don’t want to hurt anybody. We don’t want to remind anyone of an oppressive past. We want to move our community forward economically and socially.?I did this not just for my child, but for all the children and all the parents who would want to do the same kind of thing to make sure that they do not grow up in a community that does not appear to be divided.?

I was born in the South–in Georgia–and have lived here for most of my life. I can assure you of one thing without reservation: the Confederate flag is a symbol of racism and division. We are not supposed to be Southern Americans or Northern Americans. We are all Americans, and the flag which flies to honor the dead of any war our nation fought is the Stars and Stripes. It is the American flag.