Newspaper Page Text
♦ SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2005
8A
GROUPS
From page 1A
and that they’re planning to
- you guessed it - rise again.
“We’re not giving up,”
said Jack Bridwell, a divi
sion commander for the
Sons of Confederate
Veterans, who left his
Moultrie home this winter
to lobby lawmakers at the
state Capitol.
Bridwell is pushing for a
new vote on the state flag, a
referendum that would
include the 1956 banner
dominated by the Dixie
cross of stars.
It’s the same agenda
Southern heritage groups
had in 2002, when they
called Barnes a turncoat
(and worse) for engineering
a new state flag in 2001.
They followed Barnes
around with a big fake rat
and plastered “BOOT
BARNES” signs across the
state Barnes’ opponent,
Republican Sonny Perdue,
promised a public vote on
the flag. Perdue won.
Heritage groups claimed vic
tory.
They spoke too soon.
Perdue, presiding over a
divided Legislature, ulti
mately supported a public
vote on two other flags, not
the version with the rebel
“X.” That vote was held
without incident in March of
2004, and the state now has
PSN
From page 1A
see who can prosecute the
cases most effectively.
“I’m always on the look
out for cases to take to the
federal court,” Johnson
said, “Sometimes it’s two or
three a month, sometimes
none.
“The key to it is the col
laboration,” she said.
One such case was the
Dollar General armed rob
beries in Perry in January
and April 2003. The suspect,
Edward Wayne Young, was
prosecuted under the
Project Safe Neighborhoods
Gun Violence Reduction
Initiative. He was also want
ed for similar robberies in
LaGrange, Griffin, and
Canton, as well as in
Alabama and Mississippi.
He was sentenced to 151
months concurrently for the
store robberies.
Grants from Project Safe
Neighborhood, Lumsden
said, have also been used to
pay for equipment and com
puters used for training
including as session with the
Warner Robins Police
Department. Another grant
for community outreach and
education was used to pro
duce a calendar on gun safe
ty that was to be distributed
in the school.
Because of delays in pro
duction, the calendar came
out just prior to the Houston
County district attorney’s
election race and became a
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a flag that echoes early
Confederate designs but
doesn’t include the divisive
battle emblem. Perdue and
lawmakers from both par
ties declared the matter set
tled.
Feeling betrayed,
Southern heritage groups
again sprung into political
action. They put out a “Deck
of Shame,” a set of playing
cards targeting state law
makers “who denied
Georgians a fair vote on our
state flag.” They sent ani
mated e-mails showing
Perdue supposedly stabbing
a voter in the back, another
calling him “spineless.”
But this time - nothing.
Lawmakers can’t point to
any of their colleagues who
lost in 2004 because of her
itage-group opposition.
Republican Rep. Austin
Scott of Tifton, ace of clubs
in the “Deck of Shame,”
won with 63 percent of the
vote. Then he framed a
“BOOT AUSTIN SCOTT”
poster and hung it in his
office.
The only flag bill proposed
this year is parked in a com
mittee headed by Scott.
Needless to say, its odds
aren’t good.
“I think it’s time to move
on,” Scott said.
Scott and other lawmak
campaign issue. The calen
dars were eventually distrib
uted in the schools following
the election and are avail
able on District Attorney
Kelly Burke’s Web site
www.houstonda.org.
Project Safe
Neighborhoods has five core
elements - partnerships,
strategic plan, training, out
reach and accountability.
One of the local partner
ships is the Project Safe
Neighborhoods Task Force
and the Macon Regional
Crimestoppers.
Crimestoppers regularly
runs advertisements show
ing area wanted suspects in
this newspaper.
The task force consisted of
Wood, Burke, Bib County
District Attorney Howard
Sims, the sheriffs of Bibb
and Houston counties, the
police chiefs of Macon,
Warner Robins and Perry,
the resident agent in charge
from the Macon Bureau of
Alcohol Tobacco and
Firearms, the area proba
tion and parole offices, the
Bibb County Coroner and
the Medical Center of
Central Georgia.
There is also a partner
ship with the Georgia
College and State
University. Wood explained
the college is doing research
and crime mapping for the
task force.
There are also public serv
ice announcements on TV
and radio to get the message
ers said the aggressive tac
tics of the heritage groups
backfired.
“Their rhetoric comes
across as too harsh to some
legislators, even some peo
ple who might’ve supported
them,” said Rep. Ed
Rynders, R-Albany.
Even the handful of law
makers still pushing for a
flag vote fear the move
ment’s time has passed.
“People used the Southern
heritage groups for their
votes, then turned their
backs on them,” said Rep.
Tim Bearden, R-Villa Rica,
sponsor of the lone flag bill.
“We’re the Republican
party. We believe in freedom
and individual choice - but
now we’re going to turn our
back on the people and not
give them a chance to speak
their minds? That’s wrong.”
Jeff Davis, chairman of
the Georgia Heritage
Coalition, said Republicans
are ignoring the people who
put them in office.
“They think they’re bul
letproof. They think they
can ignore us,” Davis said.
“The Republican Party
could be putting themselves
in serious danger in 2006.”
Maybe. Or maybe the
GOP can rest easy knowing
the other side isn’t any
friendlier to Southern her
itage groups. Mike Digby, a
out on the effects of gun
crime on families of victims
and perpetrators.
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political scientist at Georgia
College & State University,
said Republicans know they
won’t see heritage voters
slide away to the Democrats.
“Some officeholders could
be thinking, ‘Where else
does this group have to go?’
They’re not going to get a
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Democratic party,” he said.
Right now they’re not get
ting a good reception from
anybody. Bearden says he’s
tried his best but isn’t hope
ful for a revival of the flag
question.
Bridwell said heritage
groups are already turning
their sights to the next elec
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tion. Some groups are work
ing on local matters instead,
such as preserving local
Confederate monuments.
For the next two years, at
least, the movement to
revive Georgia’s 1956 flag is
stuck.
“The issue,” Scott said, “is
over.”