Confederate Memorial on MLK in Orange, TX Angers NAACP

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Slavery was bad... it still is happening and it still is bad.... no one is disputing that. The thing about war though is that it usually is started by the powerful people and then lots of not powerful people get sucked into it and lots of innocent people die on both sides. The Civil war was over slavery between the big guys, but for all the regular people fighting, most of them did not own slaves and had no interest in owning slaved. Many people fought just to fight for their state or against the north or against the south or to right with their brother who joined. Did all the British solders that were fighting against the colonist in the American Revolution hate Americans or were many of them fighting just because they were British and had to fight for their side? Look, it does not mean you agree with slavery just because you are proud to be southern or want to honor your relatives who died in the civil war fighting for the Confederacy. In America we have a Constitutional right to freedom of speech and everyone is entitled to it. So if this guy wants to build a Confederate Memorial on a major intersection so that people driving through the city can see it then so be it. Soldiers have died to protect Freedom of Speech just as soldiers have died to end Slavery.


the story below is from KBMT 12 News:
http://www.12newsnow.com/story/21192179/confederate-memorial-to-be-built-on-mlk

ORANGE - Granvel Block of Orange says he's related to at least 17 Confederate soldiers.
"My great grandfather was a Confederate veteran," he told 12News Wednesday.
He and his organization, called the Sons of Confederate Veterans, want to honor their ancestors by building a Confederate memorial in Orange. It would look similar to the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., and it would be surrounded by 26 different Confederate flags.     "It'll be there for an educational purpose, to show the public the misconception that a lot of people have that the only flag is the battle flag," Block said.
But the memorial will be at the corner of Interstate 10 and MLK, and it's the location that has people talking.
"I think the location could be offensive, it seems to be in bad taste," said Orange resident Philip Cooper.         Orange City Council member Theresa Beauchamp finds it offensive, saying, "Everyone has their freedom of speech, but let that (part of history) be gone and forgotten. We do not need to stir up controversy in this town."
Block says his organization never intended to "make a statement."
"It was just a matter of fate that this particular spot became available," he said.
Block says the complaints are unfounded.
"We are a very diverse group, we do not have prejudices," he said.
Several Orange residents and the Orange division of the NAACP plan to voice their concerns to the City Council. But the property is paid for, and Block says the memorial will be built, possibly completed as early as April.