Bill would restore rebel flags at sites

Dexter Daily Statesman

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Legislation heard by a House panel on Wednesday would pave the way for the reraising of Confederate flags at two Missouri historical sites. The bill would put decisions related to proposed changes in historical markers and monuments on state property in the hands of an eight-member Missouri State Park Board.

The measure, sponsored by state Reps. Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, and J.C. Kuessner, D-Eminence, is in response to a unilateral decision by Department of Natural Resources director Stephen Mahfood to permanently remove rebel flags that had long flown over the Confederate Memorial State Historic Site -- a rebel cemetery in Higginsville -- and the Fort Davidson State Historic Site in Pilot Knob.

Under the bill, those flags would automatically be restored and remain in place unless the park board, after public hearings, later determined they should be removed.

"This would give the general public due process and allow their input into what is going on with our state parks system," Mayer said.

The House Corrections and State Institutions Committee did not immediately act on the measure. A similar bill is pending before the full Senate.

Bruce Hillis, a Dexter resident and member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said the bill is about preserving history, not flags.

However, state Rep. Betty Thompson, D-St. Louis, said the flag is seen as a symbol of violence and oppression by many black Missourians.

"I couldn't in good conscience support this bill," said Thompson, who is black.

The familiar Stars and Bars flag has long been linked to hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan. However, Kuessner said what flew at Pilot Knob was a battle flag unique to the Confederate unit that fought at the site.

"I guarantee you very few people know what that flag looks like," said Kuessner, whose great-great grandfather was a member of the unit.

The bill is HB 896