Tyrone N. Butts
APE Reporter
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/l...teflag0402.html
Country Thunder bans Rebel flag from festival
Lisa Nicita
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 3, 2006 12:00 AM
Campers and cowboy hats will begin rolling into Florence for the annual Country Thunder USA celebration this week, but Confederate pride will have to be checked at the gate.
While the Confederate belly-button rings and cellphone covers will likely slide by, concertgoers should leave the bedspreads and the Lycra wrestling masks that just arrived from eBay at home. In an effort to avoid some of last year's rowdy, offensive behavior, event organizers will crack down this year on large Confederate displays and will not allow concertgoers to decorate campgrounds w
ith the flag.
"We realize different symbols mean different things to different
people," said Country Thunder General Manager Michelle VanDeBogert. "We request from our fans that nobody display anything that has the possibility of denoting anything negative." advertisement
The 145-year-old Rebel flag was a battle flag for the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, which pitted the North against the South in a conflict over issues that included slavery.
The flag has become a lightning bolt for controversy. In 2004, it was banned from a polka festival in Ennis, Texas, In recent years, several school districts nationwide have banned or discussed banning Confederate symbols.
But the flag remains hugely popular nationwide. Nearly 5,000 items bearing a Confederate flag are up for auction on eBay, including tongue rings, belt buckles, bikinis and a mini-infantry. In Mesa, Air-A-Zona Flag Co. Inc. owner Jan Dominguez said the company sel
ls a Confederate flag for every 50 American flags sold.
Dominguez had heard about the Country Thunder crackdown and thought it was
silly. She said most people who buy the flags ride motorcycles, listen to country music or have ties to the South.
"We don't get people in here that want to buy because 'I'm a White supremacist,' " she said. "It's consistent with the Dukes of Hazzard and country and stuff. It's also a historical flag."
Les Cogar, a member of the Arizona division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said he views the flag as a part of his history. But he said he knows he can't control what people do with the flag.
"People pick it up and use it as racial," Cogar said. "At this point, we have a project to try and wash the stain off the flag. We are doing our best to let people know it's not a flag of racial controversy. It's a heritage flag."
Country Thunder is the large
st country-music event of the year in one of country's largest markets. About 25,000 people a day from across the country are expected to descend on Canyon Moon Ranch, about four miles east of Florence, for the concert.
This is the f
ourth year that the four-day country-music extravaganza will be at that location and the 13th year it has been in Arizona. An annual Country Thunder event is also held in Wisconsin.
Country Thunder bans Rebel flag from festival
Lisa Nicita
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 3, 2006 12:00 AM
Campers and cowboy hats will begin rolling into Florence for the annual Country Thunder USA celebration this week, but Confederate pride will have to be checked at the gate.
While the Confederate belly-button rings and cellphone covers will likely slide by, concertgoers should leave the bedspreads and the Lycra wrestling masks that just arrived from eBay at home. In an effort to avoid some of last year's rowdy, offensive behavior, event organizers will crack down this year on large Confederate displays and will not allow concertgoers to decorate campgrounds w
ith the flag.
"We realize different symbols mean different things to different
people," said Country Thunder General Manager Michelle VanDeBogert. "We request from our fans that nobody display anything that has the possibility of denoting anything negative." advertisement
The 145-year-old Rebel flag was a battle flag for the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, which pitted the North against the South in a conflict over issues that included slavery.
The flag has become a lightning bolt for controversy. In 2004, it was banned from a polka festival in Ennis, Texas, In recent years, several school districts nationwide have banned or discussed banning Confederate symbols.
But the flag remains hugely popular nationwide. Nearly 5,000 items bearing a Confederate flag are up for auction on eBay, including tongue rings, belt buckles, bikinis and a mini-infantry. In Mesa, Air-A-Zona Flag Co. Inc. owner Jan Dominguez said the company sel
ls a Confederate flag for every 50 American flags sold.
Dominguez had heard about the Country Thunder crackdown and thought it was
silly. She said most people who buy the flags ride motorcycles, listen to country music or have ties to the South.
"We don't get people in here that want to buy because 'I'm a White supremacist,' " she said. "It's consistent with the Dukes of Hazzard and country and stuff. It's also a historical flag."
Les Cogar, a member of the Arizona division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said he views the flag as a part of his history. But he said he knows he can't control what people do with the flag.
"People pick it up and use it as racial," Cogar said. "At this point, we have a project to try and wash the stain off the flag. We are doing our best to let people know it's not a flag of racial controversy. It's a heritage flag."
Country Thunder is the large
st country-music event of the year in one of country's largest markets. About 25,000 people a day from across the country are expected to descend on Canyon Moon Ranch, about four miles east of Florence, for the concert.
This is the f
ourth year that the four-day country-music extravaganza will be at that location and the 13th year it has been in Arizona. An annual Country Thunder event is also held in Wisconsin.