Kiley Mangum is a resident of Hillsborough and one of the organizers of the “Southern Heritage Ride and Rally” that’s expected to draw upward of 1,000 people this Saturday. Mangum says local and national events prompted her to plan the rally.
“One of the main reasons surrounded the Confederate Memorial building in Hillsborough, because they’re wanting to take the lettering off of it. From what I know, it has not been an issue until all this crazy stuff started going on and people started throwing up racism and tying it in with the Charleston shooting,” says Mangum. “I think we need to conserve that building. To me, it’s a big part of history; it goes all the way back to 1934. It’s really about conserving Confederate history.”
Some Hillsborough town leaders are pushing to remove the words “Confederate Memorial” from a building on Churton Street erected in 1934 by the Daughters of the Confederacy to serve as a whites-only library.
Today the building houses the Orange County Historical Museum. But some argue the inscription is a reminder of the injustices of slavery and the Jim Crow era. Members of the Historical Society say it deters visitors. They petitioned the town in June to take the lettering down.
As Hillsborough debated the fate of those few words, the Charleston, S.C. church shooting of nine black parishioners by an avowed racist white man who wielded the Confederate flag on social media set off nationwide controversy about the meaning of the flag. That debate resulted in the flag’s removal from outside the South Carolina state capitol. Across North Carolina, confederate monuments have been vandalized by those who see them as symbols of racist ideologies.
Mangum says that’s not right.
“It’s just not fair. They’ve been here so many years and it’s just all of a sudden there are so many complaints and so many people are upset by them. It’s all because of a few people want to use the flag for their own stupid purposes and not for what it really means. It’s not right. It ain’t fair.”
Saturday’s gathering is organized by a group called Orange County Taking Back Orange County. The rally will feature songs and speeches, with a focus on education. Mangum says her goal is to change the way people view the Confederate flag.
“We would love to,” says Mangum. “A lot of people have it set in their head that the Confederate flag is just nothing but slavery and racism and they tie it in with KKK groups. We’re nothing like that. We have nothing to do with any type of hate group whatsoever.”
When it comes to explaining what the Confederate flag means to her, she says it’s hard to put into words.
“To me it means, people fought and died for that, for what they believed in. It’s just like the American soldier today. They fight for what they feel is right.”
Mangum worries hate groups have stolen the symbols of her heritage.
“Everybody thinks, ‘Oh, you’re southern so you must be a racist or you must be a part of a hate group.’ It’s becoming a big deal now. The biggest part about it is, hate groups, they don’t only use the Confederate flag, they also use the American flag. But the American flag isn’t being talked about. It’s not being complained about.”
Despite this, she says she doesn’t see the need to go the extra mile to distance herself from those groups that do use the Confederate flag to promote racism.
“I know what’s in my heart,” says Mangum. “I know where I stand.”
The Southern Heritage Ride and Rally will feature a caravan of vehicles driving from Burlington to Hillsborough, followed by a two hour gathering at 2 o’clock on the lawn of Town Hall. Police are warning of traffic delays throughout the afternoon.
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