Why I Introduced a Motion Against the Confederate Flag at the NEA Convention
TUESDAY, JUL 21, 2015, 2:00 PM
BY FRED KLONSKY
I was recently in Orlando, Florida, a few weeks after the brutal murder of nine African-American members of the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, for the annual Representative Assembly of the National Education Association (NEA), the union I am a retiree member of. Just 12 months earlier, the NEA, the nation’s largest labor union, made headlines when it elected three women of color to its executive leadership: President Lily Eskelsen Garcia, Vice President Becky Pringle and Treasurer Princess Moss ...
... I went on social media and suggested that it might be a good idea for the NEA to take some action in support of removing all Confederate flags, symbols, names and memorials from schools and public spaces ...
... Earlier in the day, before the formal debate, delegate after delegate sought me out to tell me their stories of growing up in the South, of facing the intimidation of Confederate flags waving over schools named for Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee. And they told even more horrific tales of facing cross burnings and KKK rallies ...
Back on the convention floor, an amendment to my NBI to remove mention of symbols and monuments in public spaces was passed by the delegates over my objection — I preferred a statement that encompassed the whole issue of the Confederate heritage mythology and not one just about the flag. Failing that, I was happy to have my new business item to support efforts at removing the Confederate flag pass overwhelmingly ...
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/18213/teachers-unions-racism-confederate-flag