- YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan
÷ Most Kitty Hawk sailors are taking the new emphasis on proper
civilian attire in stride, but half a world away, one of the restrictions
is causing an uproar.
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- A ban on any clothing articles emblazoned with the Confederate
flag - or any other words or symbols deemed offensive or inappropriate
- has some Southerners on a rampage. And theyâre expressing their
anger via email.
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- The brouhaha began with a single line in a May 6 article
about the instructions given to sailors regarding proper dress while on
liberty in Japan. Through his command master chief, Capt. Thomas Parker,
the new Kitty Hawk commander, said offensive images included the Confederate
flag, emblematic of heritage to some - but decades of racism to others.
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- "As a southerner, a Navy veteran, a member of the
Sons of Confederate Veterans, I am offended by the bigoted nonsense of
this supposed 'officer and gentleman,'" wrote E.D. Craddock Jr. of
Conway, Ark. "I am sure that on Capt. Parker's ship it is entirely
OK to wear a 'Black Power,' NAACP, NOW, etc. T-shirt. God forbid that a
sailor on Parker's ship might wear a T-shirt with a cross or an image of
Jesus Christ on it."
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- Dozens of emails expressed similar sentiments.
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- "We ask our service people to liberate an oppressed
people in Iraq. But, if some of them had ancestors who fought for the South
in The War of Northern Aggression, or if they just want to tastefully wear
a Confederate flag on their clothing, we are concerned that the Japanese
might be offended?" wrote Clark Williams of Watkinsville, Ga.
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- Many sailors say the issue is, well, a non-issue.
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- "I don't know too many guys here who are going risk
their career by wearing something that a lot of people think is a symbol
of racism," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Tim Davis of the Kitty Hawk.
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- "It's the same thing with wearing a shirt with a
marijuana leaf on it or a curse word or something."
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- The issue still resonates in many parts of the States.
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- Just this week, Georgia's governor signed a bill that
adopted an entirely new state flag devoid of the Confederate emblem, replacing
an unpopular design adopted in 2001.
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- The 2001 flag was a blue banner that contained a small
Confederate emblem along the lower edge. It succeeded Georgia's 1956 flag,
which was dominated by a large Confederate emblem added by the legislature
at the height of Southern resistance to integration.
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- The brand new flag hoisted May 8 contains Georgia's coat
of arms and the words "In God We Trust" on a blue field in the
top left corner, with three red-and-white stripes to the right. Georgia
voters will pick between the new flag and the 2001 flag in a referendum
next March. Few give the old flag any chance to win.
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- A similar controversy in South Carolina led to an economic
boycott directed by the NAACP.
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- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
- © 2003 Stars and Stripes. All Rights Reserved.
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