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An unfortunate fight over stewardship of this historic site.
Dust settles after war between Beauvoir factions
By Michael Newsom
McClatchy Newspapers
The Sun Herald
October 22, 2006
BILOXI, Miss. - A judge's decision in July became the last stand for some members of the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and after the smoke cleared in a bloody war within the group, those left standing are rebuilding Beauvoir.
But some worry about the direction the organization is headed under new leadership. That direction will affect Beauvoir, which is owned by the state chapter.
Last summer, the last home of Jefferson Davis lay in ruin, caught in an uncivil war between factions involved in a change of the guard within the SCV. The lawsuit was settled in July and the Beauvoir board of directors lost.
Those who are still in the group are moving forward and feel positive about the group's future. Plans for rebuilding the home were announced earlier this month. And 13 months after the storm, the first post-Katrina Fall Muster will be held at the Harrison County Fair, with the proceeds to benefit the rebuilding.
But many on the losing end have left the group, and the Beauvoir board has about 80 percent new membership to tackle rebuilding the battered home with $7 million from FEMA for repairs.
The defendants in the dispute over membership and the power to assess dues also alleged that the Mississippi Division of the SCV was infiltrated by a radical racist element that was controlling the national chapter.
Robert Murphree, an attorney and SCV member who acted as counsel for the defense, fired a litany of charges against the local SCV. He lost the case and has since left the Beauvoir board. He also renounced his SCV membership.
"As much as I love the Confederate history, and as proud as I am of my Confederate history, I am not going to be a part of any group that supports racism," Murphree said.
Researchers at the Southern Poverty Law Center, who have been following the SCV, believe the verdict might be remembered as the Waterloo for the moderates within the group.
"From my perspective, that was a huge defeat for moderates in the SCV," said Heidi Beirich, spokeswoman for the Poverty Law Center. "Murphree's people were seriously dedicated to making this a historical site. The people who are running the SCV now are about politics. I think it is very unfortunate. At the end, the people who were dealing with Beauvoir were good people."
The lawsuit against Murphree and the Beauvoir board of directors alleged it was trying to strip control of the home from the Mississippi SCV's general membership. But Murphree contended the suit was the first step by national leaders who have white-supremacist leanings to wrest control of Beauvoir from his nonprofit group.
Mississippi members of the SCV have recently seen the group's national charter moved from Mississippi to Texas and have seen many of their members unseated by what they refer to as a new, radical faction.
As part of the lawsuit, Murphree contended the influence had trickled into Mississippi.
The national SCV named Denne Sweeney of Texas commander-in-chief about two years ago, and some members of the Mississippi Division were removed. Sweeney, who has since been replaced, was characterized by some as a new radical, and said his organization stands fast against "political correctness."
Some view the SCV's actions in flag controversies as a stray from its traditional mission, and they say the group has aligned itself with people who could be considered white supremacists.
The suit filed this past January asked that the court define who is now considered a member of the Division and the defendants "the old guard" say the new, more radical national leadership is directing the actions of the Mississippi Division. Court documents filed by Murphree show communication from the Division to the national headquarters asking how to proceed.
The affidavits allege members of the national SCV leadership have ties to white-supremacist groups. But the court sided with the SCV.
While the suit raged, others spoke out against funding the repairs.
In April, Derrick Johnson, head of the Mississippi NAACP, said the government should not spend millions to fix Beauvoir because it's both privately held and offensive to many.
"To celebrate a time in history that is offensive to a substantial population in the state is something that we should not promote or pay for as taxpayers," Johnson told the Sun Herald. "The Confederacy upheld a moral principal that believes that one human being should be held in bondage by another."
The SCV has other critics.
Edward Sebesta, an independent researcher of Neo-Confederate issues who is working on a book with some members of the SPLC, said there would likely be no overt evidence of "Neo-Confederate" ideologies at work in Biloxi while the group is seeking funding.
"I think they will tone down their behavior and say `We are just statue-polishers here guys'," Sebesta said.
"As soon as they don't need public funding, I think they will use Beauvoir to advocate the full, radical Neo-Confederate agenda," he said.
Sebesta said the content of the bookstore at Beauvoir may change when the home is rebuilt, and radical ideas might surface.
"I can see them having lectures where Lincoln is compared to Stalin, pro-slavery theology, attacks on Martin Luther King," he said. "You will have a polarizing impact on your local community and a black eye in the national press."
But the Mississippi SCV members take issue with claims made by Murphree, Sebesta, the NAACP and the SPLC.
Ed Funchess, commander of the Mississippi Division and a new Beauvoir board member, said the group would never be involved in politics and legally endanger its nonprofit status.
Documents filed by Murphree and other attorneys for the Beauvoir board said then-commander Sweeney, in an e-mail, referred Funchess to Kirk Lyons, who is described by the SPLC as a "white-supremacist lawyer" about how to proceed with the suit against Murphree's group.
The affidavit also included a magazine article from Intelligence Report, the SPLC magazine, which shows a two-page spread from a Neo-Nazi newsletter of Lyons' wedding at an Aryan compound in Idaho in 1990.
Lyons wrote the Biloxi Sun Herald and denied charges he was a racist after an article on Beauvoir and the SCV appeared in the paper in April.
Funchess, who has met Lyons, defended him as one who fights for the protection of Confederate symbols, and said he handles legal matters for the SCV.
But Funchess acknowledged that no organization is immune to unsavory characters and others could have acted wrongfully, but he has personally seen no evidence of racist agendas pushed by the group.
"If I found something of substance that showed the SCV was actively racial, I wouldn't even get home before I would leave the organization. I would make a phone call on the way."
Funchess said the SCVs affiliation with the Confederate battle flag, which has been seized by the Ku Klux Klan and other racist groups as a symbol of hate, has caused the group to draw fire from the left. He said groups like the SPLC see the flag and automatically think those who wave it are racists.
He said many have misconceptions about the reasons the Civil War was fought.
"In their minds, the whole war was fought over slavery," Funchess said. "They probably think that."
Tariffs levied by the government against the South were a major contributor to the war, he said.
But despite the allegations raised by activist groups, Funchess said that since the lawsuit was settled Beauvoir meetings have been productive and harmonious and the new board is enthusiastic.
"I just feel there is a unity there I have not seen in years," he said.
Eric
Dust settles after war between Beauvoir factions
By Michael Newsom
McClatchy Newspapers
The Sun Herald
October 22, 2006
BILOXI, Miss. - A judge's decision in July became the last stand for some members of the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and after the smoke cleared in a bloody war within the group, those left standing are rebuilding Beauvoir.
But some worry about the direction the organization is headed under new leadership. That direction will affect Beauvoir, which is owned by the state chapter.
Last summer, the last home of Jefferson Davis lay in ruin, caught in an uncivil war between factions involved in a change of the guard within the SCV. The lawsuit was settled in July and the Beauvoir board of directors lost.
Those who are still in the group are moving forward and feel positive about the group's future. Plans for rebuilding the home were announced earlier this month. And 13 months after the storm, the first post-Katrina Fall Muster will be held at the Harrison County Fair, with the proceeds to benefit the rebuilding.
But many on the losing end have left the group, and the Beauvoir board has about 80 percent new membership to tackle rebuilding the battered home with $7 million from FEMA for repairs.
The defendants in the dispute over membership and the power to assess dues also alleged that the Mississippi Division of the SCV was infiltrated by a radical racist element that was controlling the national chapter.
Robert Murphree, an attorney and SCV member who acted as counsel for the defense, fired a litany of charges against the local SCV. He lost the case and has since left the Beauvoir board. He also renounced his SCV membership.
"As much as I love the Confederate history, and as proud as I am of my Confederate history, I am not going to be a part of any group that supports racism," Murphree said.
Researchers at the Southern Poverty Law Center, who have been following the SCV, believe the verdict might be remembered as the Waterloo for the moderates within the group.
"From my perspective, that was a huge defeat for moderates in the SCV," said Heidi Beirich, spokeswoman for the Poverty Law Center. "Murphree's people were seriously dedicated to making this a historical site. The people who are running the SCV now are about politics. I think it is very unfortunate. At the end, the people who were dealing with Beauvoir were good people."
The lawsuit against Murphree and the Beauvoir board of directors alleged it was trying to strip control of the home from the Mississippi SCV's general membership. But Murphree contended the suit was the first step by national leaders who have white-supremacist leanings to wrest control of Beauvoir from his nonprofit group.
Mississippi members of the SCV have recently seen the group's national charter moved from Mississippi to Texas and have seen many of their members unseated by what they refer to as a new, radical faction.
As part of the lawsuit, Murphree contended the influence had trickled into Mississippi.
The national SCV named Denne Sweeney of Texas commander-in-chief about two years ago, and some members of the Mississippi Division were removed. Sweeney, who has since been replaced, was characterized by some as a new radical, and said his organization stands fast against "political correctness."
Some view the SCV's actions in flag controversies as a stray from its traditional mission, and they say the group has aligned itself with people who could be considered white supremacists.
The suit filed this past January asked that the court define who is now considered a member of the Division and the defendants "the old guard" say the new, more radical national leadership is directing the actions of the Mississippi Division. Court documents filed by Murphree show communication from the Division to the national headquarters asking how to proceed.
The affidavits allege members of the national SCV leadership have ties to white-supremacist groups. But the court sided with the SCV.
While the suit raged, others spoke out against funding the repairs.
In April, Derrick Johnson, head of the Mississippi NAACP, said the government should not spend millions to fix Beauvoir because it's both privately held and offensive to many.
"To celebrate a time in history that is offensive to a substantial population in the state is something that we should not promote or pay for as taxpayers," Johnson told the Sun Herald. "The Confederacy upheld a moral principal that believes that one human being should be held in bondage by another."
The SCV has other critics.
Edward Sebesta, an independent researcher of Neo-Confederate issues who is working on a book with some members of the SPLC, said there would likely be no overt evidence of "Neo-Confederate" ideologies at work in Biloxi while the group is seeking funding.
"I think they will tone down their behavior and say `We are just statue-polishers here guys'," Sebesta said.
"As soon as they don't need public funding, I think they will use Beauvoir to advocate the full, radical Neo-Confederate agenda," he said.
Sebesta said the content of the bookstore at Beauvoir may change when the home is rebuilt, and radical ideas might surface.
"I can see them having lectures where Lincoln is compared to Stalin, pro-slavery theology, attacks on Martin Luther King," he said. "You will have a polarizing impact on your local community and a black eye in the national press."
But the Mississippi SCV members take issue with claims made by Murphree, Sebesta, the NAACP and the SPLC.
Ed Funchess, commander of the Mississippi Division and a new Beauvoir board member, said the group would never be involved in politics and legally endanger its nonprofit status.
Documents filed by Murphree and other attorneys for the Beauvoir board said then-commander Sweeney, in an e-mail, referred Funchess to Kirk Lyons, who is described by the SPLC as a "white-supremacist lawyer" about how to proceed with the suit against Murphree's group.
The affidavit also included a magazine article from Intelligence Report, the SPLC magazine, which shows a two-page spread from a Neo-Nazi newsletter of Lyons' wedding at an Aryan compound in Idaho in 1990.
Lyons wrote the Biloxi Sun Herald and denied charges he was a racist after an article on Beauvoir and the SCV appeared in the paper in April.
Funchess, who has met Lyons, defended him as one who fights for the protection of Confederate symbols, and said he handles legal matters for the SCV.
But Funchess acknowledged that no organization is immune to unsavory characters and others could have acted wrongfully, but he has personally seen no evidence of racist agendas pushed by the group.
"If I found something of substance that showed the SCV was actively racial, I wouldn't even get home before I would leave the organization. I would make a phone call on the way."
Funchess said the SCVs affiliation with the Confederate battle flag, which has been seized by the Ku Klux Klan and other racist groups as a symbol of hate, has caused the group to draw fire from the left. He said groups like the SPLC see the flag and automatically think those who wave it are racists.
He said many have misconceptions about the reasons the Civil War was fought.
"In their minds, the whole war was fought over slavery," Funchess said. "They probably think that."
Tariffs levied by the government against the South were a major contributor to the war, he said.
But despite the allegations raised by activist groups, Funchess said that since the lawsuit was settled Beauvoir meetings have been productive and harmonious and the new board is enthusiastic.
"I just feel there is a unity there I have not seen in years," he said.
Eric
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