Gettysburg Boycott
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Group Vows to Boycott Gettysburg

Sons of Confederate Veterans says its 35,000 members will stop visiting if flag lynching takes place

by ABBY SLUTSKY and NANCY POSTER

Evening Sun Reporters

The following is an article from the Hanover, PA EVENING SUN on August 26, 2004

    If complaints won't get Gettysburg College and the borough of Gettysburg to stop a 

"lynching" of the Confederate flag, maybe losing money will. At least that's what Denne

Sweeney, commander-in-chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, hopes will happen.

"We just want to send a clear message that if the college is not going to take action and the

chamber of commerce is not going to take action, they're just gonna feel it in their

pocketbooks," Sweeney said.

    The Sons of Confederate Veterans on Wednesday announced an economic boycott of

Gettysburg in response to the art exhibit.

    The exhibit, from Florida artist John Sims, will open Sept. 3 with a lynching of the

 Confederate battle flag and includes recolored Confederate flags, a revised version of the

Gettysburg Address and remixes of the Southern song "Dixie."

    The Sons of Confederate Veterans contends the exhibit includes "hateful anti-Southern

artwork."

    "We would like to see all of our members and anybody who is a supporter of us to

boycott the area because of this rather heinous act that Gettysburg College is

perpetuating," Sweeney said.

    The boycott calls on members of the organization to avoid vacationing or spending

money in Gettysburg.

    Sims has said the Confederate battle flag makes him uncomfortable because racist groups

have used the flag to terrorize blacks. Lynching the battle flag and changing the colors

removes its "visual terrorism" and changes the racist connotations, Sims said.

    However, Jim Palmisano, Gettysburg camp commander of the Sons of the Confederate

Veterans of the Civil War, disagrees.

    This morning, Palmisano said the truth about the flag is that "it's not a hate and racist

flag."

    And he said he thinks the college is acting irresponsibly.

    He said it's a "total slap in the face" for Gettysburg College to bring the exhibit to an

area that is widely revered by historians and re-enactors. As for the planned boycott,

Palmisano said he doesn't believe the community should have to pay for what the college

does.

    "Unfortunately someone else has to suffer for someone's actions," he said. "It's just sad

that the college has taken this on and created a divisive mood in the borough."

Patti Lawson, associate vice president for communications at Gettysburg College, agreed

the community should not be held responsible.

    "It's not the town that is bringing the artist here," Lawson said, adding it's more

 appropriate for the exhibit to be the target of any boycott.

    The borough and college have received e-mails, phone calls and letters from people who

are unhappy with the art, but borough officials don't want to stop the exhibit, said borough

council president Ted Streeter.

    "We have no control, nor do we intend to exercise control over the college," Streeter

said.

    So the Sons of Confederate Veterans have decided to take action.

    "Commander-in-chief Denne Sweeney hereby calls on all (Sons of Confederate Veterans)

members, families and friends to avoid Gettysburg and not to spend any money in the

Gettysburg area.

    "All people concerned with the anti-Southern bigotry of this area should alert friends,

media and anyone concerned with the growing problem in Gettysburg so that this boycott

will become national and not just regional. After Sept. 3, Gettysburg is to be avoided

whenever vacation plans are being made," the press release stated.

    Sweeney said the boycott will probably last at least a year, depending on the response

from the borough. The press release also encouraged Sons of Confederate Veterans

supporters to attend two upcoming rallies.

    Palmisano said there are tentative plans for North Carolina resident H.K. Edgerton,

former president of a local NAACP group, to march into Gettysburg along Old Route 30

with a Confederate battle flag on Sept. 2.

    Then on Sept. 3, at 7 p.m., a memorial is planned to take place at the Peace Light

Monument, he said.

    That event will include guest speakers from the Sons of the Confederate Veterans of the

Civil War, chaplains, hymns, and Civil War music "just to counter the tasteless display

down the street at the college and to give us an outlet to show the people this is not at all

about hate," Palmisano said.

    The Sons of Confederate Veterans is based in Columbia, Tenn., and has about

35,000 members, each of whom can trace their ancestry back to a Confederate soldier,

Sweeney said.

Contact Abby Slutsky at [aslutsky@eveningsun.com]

Contact Nancy Poster at [nposter@eveningsun.com]