Harold Kenneth Edgerton (born February 18, 1948) is an American neoconfederate activist, known for his advocacy of Southern heritage and the Confederate flag. An African-American member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans,[1] Edgerton formerly served as president of the Asheville, North Carolina, chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and is currently on the board of the Southern Legal Resource Center.
H. K. Edgerton | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Edgerton reciting a Civil War poem during a Sons of Confederate Veterans and United Daughters of the Confederacy meeting in Tampa, Florida | |
| Born | Harold Kenneth Edgerton February 18, 1948 North Carolina, U.S. |
| Occupation | Activist |
| Known for | Advocacy of Southern heritage and the Confederate Flag |
| Father | Roger Roland Edgerton |
Biography
editEarly life
editEdgerton was born in North Carolina on February 18, 1948, the son of Roger Roland Edgerton (1917-1994), a Protestant minister.
Career
editEdgerton worked for improving racial issues through the Asheville chapter of the NAACP, where he was elected as president. Before becoming a president of his local NAACP, he had been an activist in support of Confederate heritage and had attended rallies supporting display of the Confederate flag. He was suspended from the NAACP in 1998 for non-compliance with the organization's rules after his Asheville branch fell into debt. He has been accused by some groups of "Neo-confederate revisionism", after meeting with Kirk Lyons, a lawyer who has taken to defending the neo-Confederate cause.[2]
By 2000, Edgerton was appointed the chairman of the board of directors of the Southern Legal Resource Center, headed by Kirk Lyons, who has defended Confederates in court. In a 2000 interview, Skip Alston, Executive Director of the North Carolina NAACP had questions about Edgerton's stand. Alston said that he had been considered "a true activist standing for what is right. I've often wondered what could cause him to do such things."[2]
In 2009, Edgerton threatened a lawsuit regarding newly elected Asheville City Council Member Cecil Bothwell, on the basis that Bothwell's atheism rendered him ineligible to serve in North Carolina public office.[3]
In events to publicize his positions, Edgerton has made solo walks: in 2002 from North Carolina to Texas to build awareness of Southern heritage;[4] and in January 2009, when he walked from North Carolina to Washington, DC seeking "official U.S. government recognition of the Confederate battle flag as a symbol of Southern heritage" from the new administration.[5] He is perceived by some as being heroic as an African-American member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which features him at events.[5][6]
He has had a number of failed political campaigns for Asheville mayor and councilman.[7]
In popular culture
editIn May 2006, Edgerton advanced his theories about reparations on Penn and Teller's show Bullshit!.[8][self-published source?]
See also
edit- Nelson W. Winbush, another African-American member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans
- Georgia Benton, African-American member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
- Mattie Clyburn Rice, African-American member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
References
edit- ^ Smith, David (2019-10-13). "Black Confederates: exploding America's most persistent myth". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
- ^ a b "Black Neo-Confederate H. K. Edgerton Discusses Beliefs". Intelligence Report. No. 99, Summer 2000. Southern Poverty Law Center. September 15, 2000. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)[full citation needed] - ^ "The Real Price of Forgetting the Past", Civil War Memory blog, 15 September 2006
- ^ a b Shurtleff, Andrew (January 2009). "Sons of Confederate Veterans: Black Southerner marching to D.C., seeks respect for Confederate flag". The Daily Progress – via Sons of Confederate Veterans weblog.
- ^ Levin, Kevin M. "Perspective | How the myth of black Confederates was born". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
- ^ H.K. EDGERTON[permanent dead link]
- ^ Penn And Teller: Bullshit!@Everything2.com
External links
edit- SouthernHeritage411.com
- Asheville NAACP Requests Assistance, Southern Legal Resource Center
- Madsen-Brooks, Leslie (2012). Dougherty, Jack; Nawrotzki, Kristen (eds.). "'I nevertheless am a historian': Digital Historical Practice and Malpractice Around Black Confederate Soldiers". Writing History in the Digital Age. University of Michigan Press.
- Ramsey, William M. (2005). "Knowing Their Place: Three Black Writers and the Postmodern South". The Southern Literary Journal. 37 (2): 119–39. doi:10.1353/slj.2005.0023. JSTOR 20078416. S2CID 154578829.
- Hale, G. E. (2013). "The Lost Cause and the Meaning of History". OAH Magazine of History. 27 (1): 13–7. doi:10.1093/oahmag/oas047.