Update, Friday, November 2: Thanks to everyone who contributed to our Go Fund Me campaign, part of our protest of the newly erected Confederate Memorial in Orange, Texas. It only took us two days to meet our goal of $1,000. Thank you! It means the world to us to know that you support us in our efforts!
Please donate to our campaign here.
Tracie and I are raising money to buy one (1) month of advertising on a billboard that stands across the road from the newly erected Confederate Memorial of the Wind, a monument built by the Sons of Confederate Veterans on Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. in Orange, Texas along Interstate 10.
The monument displays Confederate battle flags, including the “Confederate Flag.”
The City of Orange, the local business community, and even a group of local pastors have asked the Sons member who organized the monument’s construction, Granvel Block, to consider repurposing the site. But he refuses to engage in dialog.
Given the demographics of Orange and the legacy of Jim Crow there, it’s clear that the conspicuous display of the Confederate Flag doesn’t reflect or align with community values. The monument’s prominent location (along a major road that leads into town, just a few freeway stops west of the Louisiana border), makes it highly visible to drivers as they arrive in the state heading west. See the photo below, taken this week by an Orange resident.
(Read a recent Houstonia magazine article on the monument here.)
The content of the billboard will include an appeal to local residents and drivers to ask the Sons to repurpose the site. It will also include a link to a blog I’ve created to document our efforts, RepurposeMemorial.com.
My hope is to have the ad up by the end of next week. And I have already contacted the outdoor advertising company that owns the billboard to get the artwork and ad approved.
Tracie and I have been protesting the memorial since December 2017 and we have no intention of giving up on our cause: to remind the residents of Orange (where Tracie grew up and where her family lives) that it’s socially unacceptable to display images like the Confederate Flag in such a conspicuous location and fashion, with no regard for the values and feelings of the greater community.
We cannot thank you enough for your support. We’ve had so many residents thank us publicly and privately for our protests. We are wholly convinced that we need to speak out on this issue.
Please donate to our campaign here.
Do Bianchi 
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Of the 6 flags displayed which flew over Texas from 1861 to 1865, I do not see the Confederate battle flag referred to in your 2nd paragraph, above. The battle flag is missing from this monument.
I don’t doubt that you are correct, Allen. But please have a look at the artist’s rendering of what the site will ultimately look like: http://bit.ly/2PDgobz
Union General Nathaniel Banks contraband policy became the Jim Crow laws that mirrored Illinois Black Codes. One million Freedman starved to death before 1870 while GOP Robber Barons funded Transcontinental RR Transatlantic Cable and purchase of Alaska and stole 1/3 of the Government money in Credit Mobilier scandal. North wanted to be free of Blacks, not free for Blacks. This iconoclast mania is cultural genocide promoted by Marxist reeducation policy. Read “Sick from Freedom” Downs or “Age of Betrayal” Beatty. Leave CSA alone until you study real history.
Karl, thanks for your comment and for sharing your insights here. This isn’t about history. Neither heritage or history are in dispute. This about the lack of common decency in building a Confederate memorial on MLK Dr. in a city that is half black. No argument with your history. You’re the expert, for sure. Who is Downs, btw?
Sick from Freedom – Hardcover – Jim Downs – Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press › global › product
Survivors of Union “liberation” were either free antebellum or remained loyal to CSA. After seeing what North intended most Blacks chose to assist Confederacy. Instead of removing Statue, teach the truth. Richest slave owners in Louisiana were Black and richest Blacks in America. Most living Blacks descend from them or loyal Confederate Blacks. Just be honest and quit with Iconoclastic mania
Let’s be consistent with history. Four states that remained in the Union during the War Between the States were slave states. President Lincoln did nothing about this situation during the entire war. Should you not also be protesting the American flag and ask that it be removed from our society. Do you remember the many black citizens of New York that were lynched by Union citizens during the New York Draft Riots of 1863 – all under the American flag. Do you remember that 93% of all Confederate soldiers never owned a slave and would not die for wealthy men to have that right. Please spend this money on the hungry – our nation has a long tradition of free speech and the rights of private property. Should we also ban the Texas flag because it condoned slavery?
Tim, and Karl: While the CSA existed for only 4 years with less than 10% of Southerners ever owning slaves [clearly an abomination to the one, true God of the Bible: “He who kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death.” (Exodus 21:16)], slavery in North America existed for about 270 years while every slave ship from 1776 to the mid-19th Century flew the US flag. Not one slave ship flew the Confederate flag. The largest and most prominent slave-market in USA was in Boston (a long way north of the Mason-Dixon Line). So, it is most curious to me that the Bianchi group and other purge-all-things-Confederate are not also banning all-things-American. Clearly, there are many who hate America as much as they hate the CSA and express intent to remove monuments of both countries. Historical facts and reasoning are of no interest to intolerant fanatics, whether they be KKK or leftist zealots. From Christ’s teaching in Matthew 7:6, it can be inferred that we are not to give what is holy (the truth) to those who will only turn and attack us, and we are not to cast pearls (such as facts) before those who will trample them underfoot. Let’s sow only on good soil. Deo Vindice.
Karl, Tim, Allen: I really appreciate your historic insights and its been fascinating to read yours and others’ takes on history, including the many nuggets of information you’ve shared.
But this is not about history or heritage. It’s about common sense and common decency. During the 1960s, Confederate iconography (by no fault of yours) became associated with Jim Crow and racists policies and attitudes that impacted generations of blacks in our country, especially in the south. The Golden Triangle was one of the worst places in the country in terms of the violence and subjugation that occurred at the time. In the light of that, Confederate battle flags — no matter how historically significant (and I personally believe that they are historically insignificant) — are inappropriate for display on Martin Luther King Dr. within view of the interstate.
Granvel Block, the organizer of the memorial, is a well known racist who has no regard for anyone else in his community other than himself and his cronies. Nearly half of the population of Orange is black. Yes, it’s true that there may have been black soldiers etc. in the Confederate army. But can you find one black resident of Orange who condones such a display — such a conspicuous display — in her/his community? There are whites as well who have expressed their dismay, including the city council, business leaders, religious leaders, and ordinary citizens.
THAT’s what this is about.
Thanks for being here and sharing your historical insights. They are fascinating in any case.
Is the property owned by the individual that wishes to install this shrine?
Does the owner of the land pay their taxes and current with all of their payments?
Are there any City or State codes that would prevent the land owner from building such a shrine?
If the land owner is within the law to put what they want on their land, then I would say that it is UNCONSTITUTIONAL to submit your will and desires on them.
To say that over half the population in a city is a certain color and that gives you the right to press your will on someone is wrong.
I know there are Cities that are not anywhere near half, that have MLK streets. I myself can’t see the removal of that street name no more than the removal of any other due to more than half the population are white. With that being said,I can not support anyone condemning a landowner his/her rights to build what is within their rights lawfully on their land.
If anyone wishes to move past the “Old way of thinking” ,one must get past the continuous separation of the population by color and what may offend another is someone else’s free rights .
Hi CA, thanks for sharing your insights here. We are not trying to infringe on anyone’s freedom of speech. We are asking the SCV to consider repurposing the site to align with community values.
Do Nazis have the right to march through Jewish neighborhoods? Of course, they do.
But similarly, we have the right to appeal to the SCV’s sense of common decency.
That memorial is extremely hurtful to a lot of people who live in Orange. And it’s really bad for business: it’s giving Orange a reputation as a holdout of racism.
Thanks for your comments and your unique insights.