Factionalization
editIn the 1990s, disagreements over the purpose of the organization emerged within the SCV. At issue was an alleged shift in the SCV’s mission from "maintaining gravestones, erecting monuments and studying Civil War history" towards concerns such as "fight[ing] for the right to display Confederate symbols everywhere from schools to statehouses."[1]
According to Cameron McWhirter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the SCV has factionalized into an "activist" wing and a "traditionalist" wing, with the activist wing having obtained control of SCV governance.[2] Participants on both sides of the dispute have observed the influence of the neo-Confederate League of the South on the new direction the SCV has taken. One ally of the activist wing estimated that thousands of SCV members are also League of the South members.[2] A former leader of the traditionalist wing also links the LoS to the "activist" shift in the SCV: “These folks … realized that the SCV has 33,000 people and has a nationwide infrastructure — camps, communication, money, all those things."[3] According to the AJC, the activists advocate "picketing, aggressive lobbying, issue campaigning and lawsuits," in favor of what they term "heritage defense."[2]
In 2002, resistance to the SCV leadership appeared. This resistance resulted in a new organization: Save the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SSCV).[4] SSCV is made up of members and former members of SCV. SSCV alleges that scores of SCV members have left the organization in protest of its recent transformation, and that current SCV president Dennis Sweeney has purged the SCV’s ranks of additional moderates. The dissidents complain that the SCV is neglecting to dissasociate itself from racism, and they are turning to an alternate organization, the United Sons of Confederate Veterans (USCV).[2] [5]
In early 2005, the SCV council sued to expel SCV president Dennis Sweeney from office. The court initially granted the council temporary control of the organization. The court's final decision returned power to Sweeney. The traditionalists were ejected from the council shortly thereafter.[2]
References
edit- ^ Dan Gearino, "A Thin Gray Line, The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), August 28, 2002; Tracy Rose, “The War Between the Sons: Members fight for control of Confederate group.” Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC), Feb 5, 2003 / vol 9 iss 26, http://www.mountainx.com/news/2003/0205sons.php; Jon Elliston, “Between heritage and hate: The Sons of Confederate Veterans' internal battle rages on.” Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC), Aug 18, 2004 / vol 11 iss 3, http://www.mountainx.com/news/2004/0818scv.php; “The battle over flag's meaning: Arguing over the Confederacy's essence,” Daily Record/Sunday News, (York, PA) Sept. 3, 2006, http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:R3lAcU4qqukJ:www.ydr.com/newsfull/ci_4281822+%22sons+of+confederate+veterans%22+factions&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=11
- ^ a b c d e Cameron McWhirter. "Gray vs. Gray: Factions in Sons of Confederate Veterans exchange salvos in latest Civil War battleground," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sunday, October 2, 2005
- ^ Chris Haire, "A League of Their Own: South Carolina leads the nation in hate groups," The Beat (aka Charleston City Paper, Charleston, SC) August 16, 2005
- ^ http://www.savethescv.org/Introduction.htm
- ^ TRANSCRIPT FROM CBS EVENING NEWS WITH DAN RATHER July 26, 2002, http://www.main.nc.us/wncceib/lyCBS72602.htm; http://www.savethescv.org/Sweeney-Style.htm