It was used in Virginia by Robert E. Lee. Indeed, the compromise Whitney helped broker led to a run of compromising group photos with the Confederate flag from 1982 to 1985, with a hiatus in 1986, and then a final display in 1987 before the elite fraternity retired it. Richard Watts said he is inclined to accept apologies from people who once associated with the Confederate flag, as long as they show that they can grow from their experiences. Keeping time is a vital virtue that one should consider when in school. In the early 1900s when black people in the south began to vote, Confederate monuments started springing up to remind citizens of the lost cause of white supremacy. See, even after the KKK went underground, Kappa Alpha order was spreading. The flag was the symbol of people who opposed the end of Jim Crow, like Alabama Gov. “Her and I have a great relationship,” Watts said. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." He now serves on the university’s board of trustees. That fraternity was the Kappa Alpha Order. A ban on Confederate uniforms, parades and trappings followed in 2010, and in 2016 the national organization also prohibited social event nomenclature associated with the Civil War period, driving a stake in the Old South Ball. I did not know at that time that Nathan Bedford Forrest had adopted the flag as a symbol of the KKK.”. Reportedly, UA KA fraternity paused their parade in front of the house of a historically black sorority. GREENVILLE, S.C. – Dozens of alumni members of Kappa Alpha Order at Furman University want the fraternity to cut its historic ties to the Confederacy and … It was only used as the battle flag. It Ends Up There. Nikki Haley said the Confederate Flag was a symbol of “service and sacrifice and heritage.”. “That’s the most incredible case I’ve worked on in my life, and nothing will ever top that,” Whitney said. Well they didn’t call themselves the “Circle of Brothers.”, They used their Greek name, instead: “Kuklos Adelphon.”, Or, as they Kappa Alpha chapters around the country call them: “The original Kappa Alpha Order”. Richardson sold the franchise in May 2018 following a report by Sports Illustrated that he made significant monetary settlements to employees complaining of sexual harassment and on at least one occasion directed a racial slur at an African-American Panthers talent scout. And, more telling, an introduction to the Greek section of the yearbook quips: “If the Confederate flags leave you confused, strains of ‘3, 2, 1, South should have won,’ tell you you’re passing the Order of Kappa Alpha.”, Like other fraternities, Kappa Alpha Order emphasizes its members maintain a lifelong bond. Meanwhile, at Washington College, there was a new president: General Robert E. Lee. On Dec. 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to commit treason by officially declaring that its citizens didn’t want to be a part of the United States if it meant they couldn’t treat black people as property. Flag. By 1982, the Wake Forest Kappa Alphas leaned hard into the Confederate … ALL of these new statues would feature the Lee flag, even though no one used them in their State. When he became president, a new fraternity organized on campus, called the Kappa Alpha Order. The Nashville district attorney general Glenn Funk just had to bow and scrape because his 1982 Wake Forest University yearbook had a picture of him posing with frat brothers around a Confederate Flag. On Feb. 20, the Greenville News reported that South Carolina Gov. Robert Pittenger, a former congressman from North Carolina, was initiated into the Kappa Alpha Order at the University of Texas in Austin in 1967. “The Confederate leadership committed treason. Adopted by the 69th Convention, 2001. The lens swiveled to the University of Alabama in 2009 when the Alpha Kappa Alpha order members wore Confederate uniforms and paraded around carrying battle flags during their “Old South” festivities, according to nbcnews.com. https://demcastusa.com/2019/12/08/the-truth-behind-the-confederate-flag And not only does the current Kappa Alpha Order derive from them, but there was another group that used their ideas. These folks would have known these symbols were hateful and that they caused hurt and emotional harm to African Americans. In 1992, I was almost arrested trying to stop an “Old South” parade at my University. Born into an elite family, Whitney attended a Sunday School class at Myers Park Presbyterian taught by future Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot, according to a profile in the Charlotte Observer. This probably is owed to the Kappa Alpha Order, a Southern fraternity founded at Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in 1865, when R.E. Could've had something to do with the huge portrait of Jefferson Davis hanging in the lobby of the hall that the KAs called home. The views and opinions expressed on this site are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of the DemCast organization. Lee told the newspaper: “I can see that participating in that was insensitive and I’ve come to regret it.” The Jackson Free Press has reported that Mississippi Lt. Gov. One of the things these people did was start the “lost cause” movement that honored Confederate veterans. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Whitney said his affinity with the Confederate flag as a student at Wake Forest University hasn’t infected his conduct as a prosecutor and a judge. Then, in 1948, in opposition to the Democratic Truman integrating the army and supporting civil rights legislation, Southern Democrats started the Southern States Rights Party or the Dixicrats. See, after the original Kappa Alpha organization (or Kuklos Adelphon) disbanded in 1855, another group copied their ritual verbatim: And remember that man who designed the REAL confederate flag that was mostly white? Lyons described Kappa Alpha Order as “a moral compass for the modern gentleman [that] promotes respect for others.”. Starting a new business can be an incredible journey but it will certainly be a difficult one, particularly in the early stages. It’s now on every major college campus. By the time Watts attended college, black students at Wake Forest University had risen through desegregated public schools, something that set them apart from previous generations, and a 1982 article in the Winston-Salem Chronicle noted that participation in the Black Student Alliance was lower than in previous years. The men dressed up as Confederate officers and their ladies as southern belles. Ben Sutton, founder of Teall Capital and formerly the CEO of the sports marketing company IMG College, is listed in the Kappa Alpha roster in the 1980 edition of The Howler. Racist symbols of the Confederacy are more likely to fall, -Publisher’s Note- Good morning! As I have, I’ve been reading a lot of commentary this morning on the outcome, The Protect the Results coalition is a bipartisan coalition of more than 175 advocacy. Other people surrounded me before the police did. “Because of the racially discriminatory policies at Wake Forest, we’ve not gained anything,” Watts told the Chronicle at the time. I still felt unsafe and unwelcome. However, there is the reality of hate and violence with Black Lives Matter and antifa, and why should they get a pass?”, And in 2016 Pittenger apologized for a comment he made about protesters in Charlotte demonstrating against the police killing of Keith Lamont Scott. No caption or further explanation was published. “I do my very best in my job to provide a fair and just courtroom and to be colorblind in everything I do.”. But they never called it the “Confederate Flag” because they had a more common nickname: Originally posted on Twitter. There are no Confederate flag photos in the section, but the entry describes a set of rituals and trappings that are nearly identical to those seen in the Wake Forest University yearbook in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The basic flag is a vertical tricolor of crimson, white, and old gold, with a crimson Greek cross on the center. 1 officer for the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity at the University of South Carolina in the 1969 Garnet and Black yearbook. Durable 100% Polyester, Metal Grommets for Hanging, Printed on Demand. The website’s treatment of Lee emphasizes the Confederate general’s family ties to George Washington and holds him up as an agent of reconciliation. Yes,” he said. Whitney, who worked as a federal prosecutor for a decade before receiving appointment as US attorney for the Eastern District and then as a judge in the Western District by President Bush, said that members knew the Confederate flag was offensive when they displayed it in the 1980s because black students at Wake told them so, but insisted that for them it was never about race and never intended as a signal of support for the Confederacy. Lee was its president. These would have been sharp students. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster is a Republican. “We never saw blackface, but we heard about it. The flag that you commonly see, was NEVER EVER EVER the official flag for the Confederate States of America. Learn how your comment data is processed. Richardson could not be reached for comment. In the memo to chapters, Kappa Alpha’s national executive director, Larry Wiese, said such displays had to end. We are the Tau Chapter of The Kappa Alpha Order located at Wake Forest University. It was never on campus. They clearly understood at the time that they were not benign symbols. The Circle of Brothers group from UNC in 1812? Watts served on the Student Relations Committee with Frank Whitney, the future federal judge, although he says he doesn’t remember Whitney. FOUR factual errors. Could've had something to do with the huge portrait of Jefferson Davis hanging in the lobby of the hall that the KAs called home. A former NFL player, Richardson established the Carolina Panthers franchise in Charlotte. Sutton was the chairman and CEO of IMG College, described as “the largest college sports sponsorship and media company in America.” The company was sold as part of IMG Worldwide for $2.4 billion to Silver Lake Capital Partners and WME in 2014. “Several years later the KAs eliminated the Old South Ball. Frank Whitney, who was appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush and now serves as chief district court judge for the Western District of North Carolina, posed in a group photograph with a large Confederate flag as a member of the Kappa Alpha Order for the 1982 edition of the yearbook The Howler. David M. Warren, a US bankruptcy judge in the Eastern District of North Carolina who was appointed to the federal bench by President Obama, was inducted into the Kappa Alpha Order in 1978 and now serves as a trustee for the national organization. We do not get paid for clicks. During his post as US attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina in the 2000s, Whitney made a name for himself by prosecuting elected officials for corruption, including North Carolina state House Speaker Jim Black, US Rep. Frank Balance, state Commissioner of Agriculture Meg Scott Phipps and state Transportation Secretary Garland Garrett Jr. Tennessee Gov. Whitney said as a high school student in Charlotte he participated in Revolutionary War and Civil War reenactments, but he said that as a 16- and 17-year-old he portrayed a Union soldier. Their official logo was the Confederate flag. August 25, 2015. The University’s Pro Humanitate Institute will host a panel discussion called “The Flag: Navigating Southern Identity, Race and Symbolism” on Sept. 2 from 6-7 p.m. in Wait Chapel. The Cactus entry notes that Kappa Alpha Order was organized at Washington College in 1865 “under the guidance of Robert E. Lee” and mentions that “an Old South Week, including the traditional ball, was held in the spring.”. It should have happened before.”. Immediately following the dissolution of Kuklos Adelphon, Kappa Alpha Order was founded at the end of the American Civil Warand became the … Kappa Alpha Order finally prohibited its members from displaying the Confederate flag in 2001, according to the national organization. More than 70 alumnae of the sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, sent a petition to Alabama President Robert Witt complaining about the use of Confederate flags and uniforms on campus. After being contacted by City Beat earlier this week, Judge Whitney said he too regrets being photographed with the Confederate flag. “Do I know today that it’s insensitive? “We worked out with them that we would only fly the flag for our photo and at the beginning of the weekend when we held the Old South Ball, and we’d only wear the Confederate uniform to deliver invitations to the Old South Ball. “The Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union” made ZERO mentions of “heritage” or “sacrifice.”. Textbooks adopted it as fact. Dixon is the author of the 1905 novel The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan, which was adapted into the groundbreaking and racist film Birth of a Nation. Of course, they adopted the Confederate Battle Flag of Lee, too. Before you start your business, you need to ensure you have the best and most reliable suppliers lined up to help you. Members of the Kappa Alpha Order, dressed in Confederate military uniforms, escort their dates from the James Dormitory at Centenary College during the … Tate Reeves participated in the Kappa Alpha fraternity at Millsaps College. People often thought these traitors were waving the white flag in battle. He is also a member of Kappa Alpha Order. Send such requests to admin@demcastusa.com. The Confederate Battle Flag shall not be incorporated into the design of clothing or any other items bearing symbolism of Kappa Alpha Order. Jesse S. Lyons, Kappa Alpha Order’s assistant executive director for advancement, said the national fraternity enforces the prohibitions. Allman and Pittard have issued public apologies for posing with the flag, with Allman owning up to “perpetuating harm” and Pittard calling his participation “a mistake that hurt and angered others.”. The entry on Kappa Alpha’s page notes that brothers were known as “those good ’ole Southern boys” while explaining that the chapter “has remained relatively small in comparison to that of other fraternities, in an attempt to uphold these feeling [sic] of togetherness.” The entry shows a photo of two brothers posing next to a keg with a Confederate flag and portrait of Robert E. Lee in the background, while noting the annual celebration “to honor the traditions of the Old South” and the brothers’ practice of dressing in Confederate uniforms, in which they “upheld the ideas and lifestyle of the period.”, “I should have known in college that the Confederate battle flag is a hurtful and painful symbol, and I regret that I did not fully understand then what I do today,” Wallace told City Beat. Senior Writer at http://TheRoot.com, poet, Wypipologist, master race-baiter. The fraternity’s material on Robert E. Lee focuses almost exclusively on his definition of “gentleman.” The website quotes Lee extensively on the subject. It will not only apply in school, but one will also apply it in their workplace. Since then, Kappa Alpha Order has banned the display of Confederate flags (in 2001); the wearing of Confederate uniforms (in 2010); and any references … Kappa Alpha was founded in 1865 at Washington & Lee University -- a school partly named for the Confederate general, and the group calls Lee its "spiritual founder." When he became president, a new fraternity organized on campus, called the Kappa Alpha Order. Copyright, DemCastUSA, 2019 Speaking on WFNC radio’s “Good Morning Fayetteville, Pittenger reportedly said, “It’s a bit disingenuous to me that so much pressure and criticism has been put on President Trump for what he didn’t say, and yet when these things happen on the other side, silence…. $34.98$34.98. As a member of Student Government, Whitney said he helped put together an Ad Hoc Committee on Race Relations to come to a resolution. The people who fly that flag know what the cause was. Fed Up Of Politicians Inciting Mob Violence And Sedition? “Things have not changed. “I apologize for perpetuating racism and the hurt that has caused others.”. KA Order places special emphasis on the preservation of Southern heritage. 74.2 million Americans voted for Trump, and they're not going anywhere. United States troops took over the state government and reinstated the usurpers but the national election of November 1876 recognized white supremacy in the South and gave us our state.”. Whitney recalled that the Afro American Society — which was renamed the Black Student Alliance around the same time — wrote a letter to the student newspaper the Old Gold & Black complaining that the Confederate flag was insensitive to them. Two local lawyers and a federal judge who appeared in the Wake Forest University Howler yearbook photo in the 1980s posing with the Confederate flag have apologized for their actions. We stand for the segregation of the races and the racial integrity of each race; the constitutional right to choose one’s associates; to accept private employment without governmental interference, and to earn one’s living in any lawful way. Wake Forest University was an elite school. It wasn’t until the formation of the Fraternal Information & Programming Group (FIPG) that terms like risk management, host liquor liability, umbrella policies, and legal liability became part of the contemporary Greek vocabulary. She has grown. There are no ads. Kappa Alpha issued a national ban on the donning of the Confederate uniforms the following year. More than 70 alumnae of the sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, sent a petition to Alabama President Robert Witt complaining about the use of Confederate flags and uniforms on campus. Kappa Alpha chapters at institutions of higher learning outside of the state have also produced prominent political and business leaders. permalink I was taught, Most questions I’ve received through my email have been about criminal consequences, When Donald Trump was elected it changed my life. The post Why Reliable Suppliers Are so Important to a Business Owner appeared first on Triad City Beat Press Services. “After the Civil War, [Lee] emerged as one of the most important and nationally appreciated figures in healing the divisions of that conflict,” the website says. Then, with our history and your experience, your journey in life seems a little clearer. R16-113. Bill Lee dressed in a Confederate uniform at an Old South Ball as a member of the Kappa Alpha Order at Auburn University in 1980. Judge Frank Whitney said during his time at Wake Forest University he never considered his participation in the fraternity to be an expression of support for the Confederacy. They needed something more racist. Sutton’s bio on the Teall Capital website describes him as “one of the top or most powerful sports executives in America,” while noting that he is a member of the North Carolina Sports and National Football Foundation halls of fame. “The photo, ironically, was a step forward,” Whitney added. Hold The Companies Funding Their Campaigns Accountable. Martha Blevins Allman, who is now the director of admissions, can be seen in the same photo. In 1970, Pittenger served as the recording secretary for the Kappa Alpha chapter at the University of Texas, according to the Cactus yearbook. The members of Kappa Alpha Order became some of the most prominent and powerful people in history. I knew the Confederacy backed slavery.” But he said that during his years in college he did not realize that the Confederate flag had been adopted by Ku Klux Klan founder Nathan Bedford Forrest. Part 7. On April 20, 1863, a newspaper editor in Savannah said that the Confederacy should start using this design as its battle flag. The fraternity page includes of photo of brothers dressed in Confederate uniforms. A ban on Confederate uniforms, parades and trappings followed in 2010, and in 2016 the national organization also prohibited social event nomenclature associated with the Civil War period, driving a stake in the Old South Ball. In August 2017, the congressman defended Trump’s “both sides” comments about the violence at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. Our goal was: Let’s talk about it.”. One of the aspects of Daily, Gregg Kennard for GA-102 and Against Confederate Monuments, COVID wake-up call, Maddox attacks Beshear’s faith, Slam the Door on Trumpism, Not Working Families, The Story of Cumberland Posey, the only person in both the baseball and basketball Halls of Fame, How a National Campaign by White Terrorists Overthrew the US Government, 100+ Civil Rights, Racial Justice, Labor, and Grassroots Groups Demand Trump Be Immediately Removed from Office, Co-Conspirators Held Accountable, Prescott Indivisible Call To Action – Jan 8, 2021. His pen is mightier than your sword. An enthusiastic supporter of Donald Trump, Pittenger made headlines for racialized comments on at least two occasions during his three terms in Congress. After the Civil War, one of its brothers, Tenn. Confederate Captain John C. Lester, decided to start another organization in Pulaski, Tenn. that would flourish. “When I had a minority student, I would call her and she would help me get that student to Wake. But the most significant case he was involved in, Whitney said in a Constitution Day speech at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2016, was the recovery of North Carolina’s copy of the Bill of Rights, which was stolen by a Union soldier during General William Tecumseh Sherman’s occupation of Raleigh in 1865. We left Winston-Salem for the weekend. Since 1923, the Kappa Alpha Order has located its “Spiritual Founder” in General Lee, the leader of the Confederate Army that spent four bloody years trying to fight back Black emancipation. And only one political mechanism works: Fascism. Henry McMaster, an early and enthusiastic supporter of Donald Trump, was listed as the No. Reeves is also a former member of the Kappa Alpha Order at Millsaps College in Jackson, HuffPost reported, a college fraternity "known for pro-Confederate displays … But the story of how it became the symbol of the Confederacy and white supremacy is even more interesting. So make a valuable investment in eye-catching, quality Pi Kappa Alpha Signs, Flags and Banners from Greek Gear. They had the intellectual resources to appreciate the significance of them standing before this symbol of hate and violence.”. At any time, you may request to be removed from our email list, and you may request all data to be removed from our database. But black students still spoke out. My wife’s been gone for days, visiting her father down in South Carolina with her sister. Every year, a fraternity would parade through the street. This event, “Old South Week” happens at campuses across the country. “When you talked to individuals who are members of the fraternity, they tried to understand where we were,” said Watts, who now works with the Crosby Scholars Community Partnership, a nonprofit that helps Forsyth County students prepare for college. The 1993 Millsaps College yearbook shows members of the Kappa Alpha fraternity with darkened faces. “This is important because even the nicest men, most of them white with a few non-whites, were still interested in joining (the Kappa Alpha) Order and being surrounded by Confederate flags … A fraternity at Wake Forest University that claims Robert E. Lee as its “spiritual founder” and conspicuously displayed trappings of the Confederacy produced two federal judges, the general counsel for Baptist Hospital, a prominent local investor and an admissions officer at the university. 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