Area chapter to secede from League of the South

The Southeast Missouri Chapter of the Missouri League of the South has seceded from its parent organization.

The group will now be called the Missouri League of Southern Voters.

The group's organizer, Marble Hill resident Clint Lacy, said actions and comments made by some League of the South leaders were less than honorable, and the local group withdrew its membership.

Lacy wouldn't be more specific other than to say the group will no longer have to put out "brush fires."

"We have no control over what someone in Florida says," Lacy said.

A Southeast Missourian letter to the editor from the Southern Poverty Law Center alleged that a League of the South leader from Florida stole weapons from military installations in the 1990s intending to use them against black and Jewish targets. The letter, written by Heidi Beirich, deputy director of Intelligence Report magazine, said that even when the man's background was made public, the league refused to remove him as a member. Intelligence Report is a watchdog for extremist activity.

Beyond wanting to separate itself from less than honorable intentions, Lacy complains the League of the South doesn't seem to hold true to its stated belief in state sovereignty.

The state chapters, Lacy said, pay dues to the national organization. The members have little say in where the money goes or how it is spent.

The local chapter has drawn criticism in recent weeks after asking the city of Jackson to allow a Missouri Confederate battle flag to be flown over Col. William Jeffers' grave at Jackson's city cemetery.

The city board of aldermen discussed the issue briefly at a January study session but said it wanted more information before allowing the flag.

"We aren't haters. We aren't radicals," Lacy said.

Beirich, when contacted by the Southeast Missourian, said she was surprised to hear the news.

"Clint Lacy has been a die-hard activist for the League," she said. "You see him showing up at speaking engagements, you see him writing on the Web. On the other hand, it's gratifying he's taken a stand. It's possible he didn't know about these things and he is indeed taking the honorable route."

Beirich said she's never heard of a local chapter separating itself from the League of the South before.

Lacy insists his motives are about preserving history. Furthermore, he believes Southern history has been tainted.

For instance, he doesn't believe the Confederate flag represents slavery. He contends the war's primary issues were political and economic.

Lacy initiated a Confederate flag campaign not long after former governor Bob Holden ordered down the flags at Higginsville and Pilot Knob state park sites. The group, led by Lacy, distributed free Confederate flags to anyone who wanted to display one on their private property.

But Beirich said the flag hasn't been just symbolic of the Civil War. She said the flags were raised at public buildings in Alabama in defiance of segregation.

Lacy said people in Missouri had no choice but to flee or fight once the state was brought into the war. And some chose to fight for the South.

"They in no way fought for slavery," Lacy said. "They were defending their families. To us, it's just simply a matter of honoring Missouri's history and Missouri's veterans, and we think it's very unfair to take away these honorable symbols that represent part of our history."

bmiller@semissourian.com

243-6635