HOMESTEAD _ A handful of Confederate flag wavers who wanted to participate in Wednesday’s Veterans Day parade were relegated instead to spectators on the sidelines.

“This is a great day, but also a sad one,” said Gary Kalof, commander of a Sons of Confederate Veterans camp in Miami-Dade County. He watched the parade from a sidewalk. 

“This is what the NAACP wanted, for us to be banned,’’ Kalof said. “They wanted to divide this community, which is what they always do.” 

Dressed in clothing with Confederate battle flag designs on them, four members of two different Confederate states organizations; the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Southern MC [a Confederate motorcycle club] stood in one location, waving their flags. 

Banned from participating in the parade procession, the men gathered in a single location along the parade route. 

“The parade is great, and I don’t think anyone ever doubted it would be,” Southern MC member James Myers said. “We’re all Americans, and it’s just sad to see a veterans organization banned from a parade in this country.” 

Other people who watched the parade had a different reaction. 

“This is absolutely great! It’s the most dignified Veterans Day parade I’ve seen in Homestead, and I’ve seen many,” said Rosemary Fuller. 

Pat Mellerson, a local business owner, expressed similar views. 

“It was a very nice family event, and we look forward to many more,” Mellerson said. 

Fuller and Mellerson are the two women who expressed outrage at seeing the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) in last’s year’s parade. The next day, they began a successful effort to have the groups and their flags banned from future events. The Miami-Dade NAACP joined their efforts to ban the flag from the parade and other publically sanctioned events. 

In the process, they galvanized widespread support from a cross-section of the community in a movement that also saw four Homestead city council members defeated in last week’s municipal elections here. 

“This is what we wanted. Respect for others’ feelings, and now we have it,” Mellerson said. 

This year’s parade included over 30 organizations, including school bands. Fuller, a regular attendee of the parades, said it was about a quarter of the usual number of floats and organizations, and attributed this directly to the flag controversy. 

“Who wants to come to an event where all of this nonsense is going on?” Fuller asked over the blare of police sirens and marching bands. “There are some people who wanted to kill the parade, instead of telling the Confederates now way, but the people spoke, and this just great.” 

The Boy Scouts of America did not participate due to the flag controversy, which was not resolved in time for the organization to reconsider. However, a local troop did lead the pledge of allegiance, and stood next to the grand stand during the parade. 

The controversy first began during last year’s parade when some black residents expressed outrage at seeing people dressed in Confederate soldier’s uniforms, marching and displaying Confederate battle flags. 

Some people associate the Confederate flag with slavery, lynching, and racism. Others view it as a symbol of southern heritage, pride and that of a patriotic veteran’s group. 

Mellerson and Fuller said they accomplished their goal, but will continue monitoring the parade and other public events to make sure the ban is not lifted. 

“We made sure we stayed until the end of the parade, to make sure no one would try to pull anything, and this is what we will do throughout the year,” Mellerson said. 

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Photo by Elgin Jone/SFT Staff. Pictured above, from left to right, are Williams Patterson, Gary Kaloff and John Edge.

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Hate Crimes Against Southerners and Their Descendants
written by Dixie Chyc, December 06, 2009

The Civil War is history, no different than the Revolutionary War or the War of 1812 and so forth. The men and women who fought and died for both sides of the great conflict are worthy to be remembered and honored. How can it be that the NAACP and those two holier-than-thou women can be so ignorant of history, and why do THEYhave the right to stop the rights of Americans who want to celebrate their ancestry? When did it become okay to hate certain segments of the population? How is it that Mexicans can come to this country and fly the Mexican flag - no problem? And the Muslims can cling to their burkas? Yet our OWN people are forbidden now to celebrate their heritage!? Even Christmas is being taken away! Wake up America! First it's the Confederate Flag. Next it's Old Glory! Politically Correct spoilers are the ones in the wrong here - NOT the innocent citizens the spoilers so vehemently choose to hate.

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2 n**i women
written by Don, November 28, 2009

You can tell just by the way they talk that these 2 women are ignorant jerks acting just as n**i's would. I love the end where they say they stayed till the end to make sure no one ' pulled anything '. Lovely. I wish they would pull out a book and educate themselves with something other than the NEA propaganda they received in public Skrool many years ago. Maybe then they would truly be concerned with the ' feelings of others '. What a joke.

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REPLY TO REV. AL
written by FastFred, November 15, 2009

Rev. AL...... You talk about treason and Americans attacking Americans.Under the current flag "OLD GLORY"which is the main flag of the KKK and flew on slave ships where all slave trade was controlled,which was the New England States,not the South.Also,"OLD GLORY"flew while Native Americans were raped,killed,and tortured and their land stolen,if Native Americans wanted "Old Glory" changed to some thing else would you support them? And if not why not? Or is it just the black race that has feelings and rights?The "Battle Flag"was no more than a soldiers flag and was only in existence for a few yrs. when the war of Northern Aggression was being fought,old glory was there the whole time,so a reminder of slavery,rape,torture is still being used,this is the flag you should be concerned with.And these two idots "Ms. Turner and Ms. Mellerson" should read and learn some history.

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...
written by CHARLES PARKS, November 13, 2009

These two women represent the NAACP, the most blatently racist organization on the planet.
"The flag is a reminder of slavery". How ignorant can we be. Black history is based on slavery itself. A slavery that still exists today in Africa largely by those that could do something about it but never ever have.
Largely due to their ignorance, no one wants to deal with them and they get their way THAT WAY !!! Think about that.

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Jasper You are a moron...Hitler HATED the Confederate flag!
written by C.W. Roden, November 12, 2009

Hitler outlawed the Confederate Flag in 1935; he understood what the Confederate Flag meant. His Government was a totalitarian and Centralist Government, The Confederate Flag stands for States rights and a non-Centralist form Government. I was reading a book that a friend gave me, it was the story of a Wilhelm Bucher. Mr. Bucher’s Great, Great Grandfather fought for the Confederacy. After the war, the elder Mr. Bucher went back to Germany. When Wilhelm Bucher flew his Confederate flag outside his Berlin House in 1936, the n**i’s S.A., (or Storm Troopers) came and took it down. They informed him that it was illegal for him to fly that flag. Not to be undaunted, he had two other Confederate flags. He then flew the First National Confederate Flag.
This time, the S.S. came for him. He was sent to Bergen Belsin, (this was before it became a Concentration Camp) for a period of two years. When he was released, he went home flew his third and last Confederate Flag. The Gestapo came for him this time, they took him to Gestapo Headquarters and shot him in Jan. 1939.

The only reason Neo-facists MISUSE it today is a vain claim to try and connect with Southerners that they think do not know better.

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Ban was an act of bigotry.
written by Harold Crews, November 12, 2009

Banning Confederates and Confederate symbols was an act of bigotry. Surely hatred of Southerners is one of the last acceptable prejudices in the United States.

Someone ignorant earlier equated the Confederacy with n**i Germany. Hitler was an admirer of Lincoln not Jefferson Davis.

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Name Streets After Those Ladies
written by Tim From The Redlands, November 12, 2009

Even though I don't agree with them, there should be streets or a park names after these women. They held a view, and fought for it. The SCV and the VFW turned into cowards and gave up. Now whose fault is that, I would ask? They must not believe in it too much.

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C.W Roden, You Are The Joke!
written by Rev. Al, November 12, 2009

C.W., you're the joke. Yes, even though the Confederates were Americans, they still committed the worse act of treason in the country's history...by attacking Americans.

Rev. Al

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How Sad This All Is....
written by d**kum Chaney, November 12, 2009

So sad. if it was not for the Confederacy, there would not have been any Abe Lincoln, NAAC-Through, Martin Luther King, or Obama-nation, so be thankful.

d**kum Chaney

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Hitler Must Be Crying
written by Jasper, November 12, 2009

Poor Adolph Hitler. He must be crying because the Confederate soldiers were banned from the parade.

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