Sullivan officials discuss use of rebel flag at South High

KINGSPORT — Despite rebel flag flaps nationwide now and locally five years ago, the Southern Cross flag remains an unofficial flag at Sullivan South High School in Sullivan County.The rebel flag has been an increasingly hot topic since Dylann Roof, a white 21-year-old man, on June 17 allegedly murdered nine black people in a Charleston, S.C., church.It also remains an unofficial symbol of South, at least on football Friday nights in Colonial Heights, and school officials this week indicated no plans for further changes since five new spirit flags were introduced in 2010.Roof used the rebel flag on his Facebook profile and had an image of it on his state-issued license plate.Since then, the governors of Tennessee, Virginia and two other states have indicated their wish to remove the image from state license plates, and Walmart, Sears, eBay and Amazon have decided to stop selling the flag or items with its image The pro and con stances have lighted up social media and mainstream media.In Arkansas, the Fort Smith school board will vote July 27 on banning "Dixie" as the school song at Southside High School for 2015-16 and replacing the rebel mascot for 2016-17, both more than 50-year-old traditions. The board had banned the rebel flag there well before the murders.Locally, South is nicknamed the Rebels and has an almost 35-year history of using the flag at football games and in the parking lot.The Kingsport Times-News has received inquiries and a letter to the editor about the rebel flag use at South. A 2009 climate study at South was followed by a 2010 decision to have additional spirit flags available at the school. Primarily the battle flag used by the Army of Northern Virginia, the rebel flag is also known as the Southern Cross."Same as it was five years ago," South Principal Greg Harvey said Wednesday afternoon when asked about the rebel flag and other spirit flags. "We've got pretty much a school flag."He then referred comments to Interim Sullivan County Director of Schools Evelyn Rafalowski. On Thursday, she said one of the most popular spirit flags is baby blue with a gray star in the middle. Another has a pair of crossed sabers.South, under Harvey's leadership, formed a school climate committee in response to the 2009 complaint about the rebel flag at South football games.Former Sullivan School Directors Jack Barnes and Jubal Yennie never divulged the identity or relationship to the school or community of the person who lodged the complaint.Yennie said in 2010, in his first few two months on the job, that he didn't know that information.He is going to take a job in Wyoming, and the school board June 1 chose Rafalowski, a 38-year veteran of the school system, as the interim director.The South climate group in 2010 recommended five new spirit flags. The school's graphic arts students designed the flags, which were made in Johnson City.Sulllivan County Commissioner and 1990 Sullivan South graduate Angie Ward Stanley said the national focus needs to on the nine murder victims and how a mentally disturbed individual got firearms, not on a flag.She said the rebel flag at South is simply a symbol of school pride that dates back to when the school opened in 1980. She also said she and her classmates didn't get to choose the school name, the nickname Rebels or the Confederate colonel mascot.Stanley said banning or removing the rebel flag because of the murders is akin to banning cars because of people who get DUIs. Stanley said he hopes no banning of the flag or mascot occurs, especially given that the recent school system facilities study could result in the closure of South as a high school and eventual building of two new high schools."It's ironic how we have one very noticeable, that he has some mental issue. I think we need to be focused more on those nine victims," Stanley said, "instead of trying to blame it on a symbol."The alleged murderer had a website with a rebel flag and a vehicle with a Confederate flag on the license plate.Aside from trying to remove rebel flag images from Tennessee license plates, Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam also wants to remove a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and founder of the Ku Klux Klan, from the state Capitol. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountvillle, has said he opposes that move."They (police) also have a picture of him (Roof) out there burning the American flag. Are they going to try to take the American flag down, too?" Stanley said.The rebel flag was adopted by the KKK at its founding after the Civil War and has been used by other white supremacy groups in more recent times.Annual school climate surveys and emphasis on school climate in Sullivan County grew out of a 1990s agreed order settling a civil rights/racial discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of two black students at Sullivan East High School."Nobody's banned the (rebel) flag. What we have asked them (students) to do is try to diversify," Harvey said in August 2010. "The only time you see rebel flags at South High School is at football games."