Marchers want Confederate flag to fly again in Alabama

March 4, 2000
Web posted at: 3:20 p.m. EST (2020 GMT)

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MONTGOMERY, Alabama (CNN) -- Chanting "We dare defend our rights," about 1,500 people marched to the steps of Alabama's state Capitol in Montgomery on Saturday in support of the Confederate flag.

Many of those who participated in the five-block march were dressed in Confederate-style uniforms or period costumes and carried Confederate flags.

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Following the march and opening speeches, the crowd dwindled to about 300. Police arrested four counter-demonstrators for straying from a designated protest area.

The march came a day before the 35th anniversary of a key event in the Civil Rights movement that occurred 50 miles west of Montgomery, in Selma. In 1965, police used horses, tear gas and clubs to beat back marchers headed to Montgomery to protest the denial of voting rights to blacks.

Saturday's event, organized by the League of the South, was billed by its organizers as a "Southern Independence Day Celebration." But it focused about Southern states that still fly the Confederate flag.

Alabama removed all Confederate symbols from flags at its Capitol building in 1993, but those at the rally demanded its return.

"I also want that battle flag put back atop this capitol, where it belongs," said League president Michael Hill.

"We have a dream, too," Hill told the marchers, in an allusion to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

"We are not going to allow anyone to take our symbols, demonize them and tell our children that our ancestors were traitors," said Hill. "Those people who do not like our symbols, we are here today to tell them, 'You need to get used to them. Our symbols are not going away.'"

The group staged a similar rally in Columbia, South Carolina, in January and plans another one in North Carolina this spring.

Several groups have boycotted South Carolina because the Confederate flag flies over the state Capitol.

Former Georgia Gov. Zell Miller tried to have the Confederate emblem removed from the Georgia state flag, but backed off under heavy political fallout.

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AlaWeb - State of Alabama official site

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