Why there is a Confederate flag at Wichita’s Veterans Memorial Park
A national discussion following the recent shootings in South Carolina has turned to whether the Confederate flag should be flown in public spaces.
In Wichita, a Confederate flag flies in the John S. Stevens Pavilion at Veterans Memorial Plaza near downtown. The flag was originally placed in the pavilion in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial.
At the time, 13 historic flags were chosen for display by local teachers, politicians, city officials, veterans and residents. The flags were chosen to commemorate “the diversity of purposes and peoples who have contributed to this Country’s enrichment,” a plaque reads at the site.
The Confederate flag was chosen in order to be inclusive to all who fought in the Civil War, according to the late Philip Blake, who led the efforts to restore the pavilion beginning in 2003.
There have been no recent complaints about the Confederate flag that has been displayed daily for nearly four decades, according to Van Williams, a city spokesman. The flag pavilion is maintained by the city’s parks department.
“I think a lot of people don’t realize it is there,” said City Council member Lavonta Williams, who is black. “But as I look at it, I realize it is a very controversial topic.
“That flag is offensive to people who come to Wichita, especially African-American people from the South who understand and know what that flag means. I think we need to reach out to the stakeholders of that pavilion and make sure we can determine some changes because it is offensive.”
Ted Ayres, who helped develop a World War II memorial in Veterans Memorial Park, said the flag pavilion was initially designed to show or identify flags involved with the development of the United States.
“I am not supporting, I don’t identify and am not a part of the Confederate states and what that flag stands for,” Ayres said Tuesday. “But it is part of American history and was clearly a significant part of our nation’s development, right or wrong.
“With current events the way they are, it is certainly a topic of discussion.”
In South Carolina, where nine black churchgoers were slain last week in what has been called a hate crime, lawmakers are debating removing a Confederate flag that flies on the Statehouse grounds.
Kansas military historian Arnold Schofield from Fort Scott said the Confederate battle flag does not symbolize or represent what it did during the Civil War.
“During the war, the regimental battle flag rallied troops on the battlefield,” Schofield said. “Today that same battle flag through the passage of time has evolved into a political and social symbol that really doesn’t have anything to do with the Civil War.
“It is a symbol that some people, mostly those in the South, that represents the epitome of their Southern heritage, their Southern white heritage. You have other citizens of the South who believe that flag is an atrocious reminder of the antebellum South before the Civil War when they were slaves.”
There is nothing wrong, Schofield said, with displaying historic battle flags – numerous states across the nation have done that. The Confederate flag in Wichita is displayed in that context with other historic flags, creating an outdoor flag museum.
The Confederate flag is about symbolism, said Mark McCormick, director of the Kansas African American Museum.
“If they take it down, the everyday lives of African-Americans will be exactly the same,” McCormick said. “Our problems are much more complex than the symbolism of a flag. It makes me sad that we have never gotten to the point that we can get past these differences.
“So OK, if they take that flag down, what did we win? It is a hollow victory because we are focusing on a symptom rather than the actual disease.”
Reach Beccy Tanner at 316-268-6336 or btanner@wichitaeagle.com. Follow her on Twitter: @beccytanner.
Flags at the pavilion
There are 13 flags at the John S. Stevens pavilion at Veterans Memorial Plaza near downtown Wichita. In addition to the Confederate flag, some of the other flags are the Columbus Standard; the Viking Banner of Leif Ericson; Great Britain’s Union Jack; the 13-star flag; the French Tricolor, symbolizing France’s involvement in the development of the United States; the 34-star flag representing when Kansas became a state; the 48-star flag; and the 50-star flag.
The plaque at the Confederate flag:
“As secession swept the South, various state banners were created to symbolize the ‘independence’ movement. Soon the Confederacy found it necessary, however, to adopt an appropriate ‘national’ flag. The first was the famous Stars and Bars. During the Battle of Bull Run it was found that this Confederate Banner looked too much like the Stars and Stripes.
“After some experimentation, the Battle Flag or Southern Cross becomes the best known and generally recognized symbol of the South until April 9, 1865, when the war was over. Lincoln’s prophecy on the divided nation had become true. ‘I do expect it will come to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.’ On April 14, 1865, the Stars and Stripes were ceremoniously raised again over the South. Ironically, the event commanded little public press, for a few hours later Abraham Lincoln was assassinated as he sat in the President’s box at the Ford Theater in Washington.”
This story was originally published June 23, 2015 at 12:16 PM with the headline "Why there is a Confederate flag at Wichita’s Veterans Memorial Park."