H. K. Edgerton

H. K. Edgerton (born February 18, 1948) is an African-American activist for Southern heritage and an African-American member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.[1] He is often given a prominent place at rallies for the Confederate flag. A former president of the Asheville, North Carolina, chapter of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), he is on the board of the Southern Legal Resource Center.

H.K. Edgerton reciting a Civil War poem during a Sons of Confederate Veterans and United Daughters of the Confederacy dinner in Tampa, Florida.

Early life

Edgerton was born in North Carolina on February 18, 1948. His father was a minister.

Career

Edgerton worked for improving racial issues through the Asheville chapter of the NAACP, where he was elected as president. Before becoming a president of NAACP, he had been an activist in support of Confederate heritage and had attended rallies supporting display of the Confederate flag. He was suspended from the NAACP in 1998 for non-compliance with the organization's rules after his Asheville branch fell into debt. He has been accused by some groups of "Neo-confederate revisionism", after meeting with Kirk Lyons, a lawyer who has taken to defending the neo-Confederate cause.[2]

By 2000, Edgerton was appointed the chairman of the board of directors of the Southern Legal Resource Center, headed by Kirk Lyons, who has defended Confederates in court. In a 2000 interview, Skip Alston, Executive Director of the North Carolina NAACP had questions about Edgerton's stand. Alston said that he had been considered "a true activist standing for what is right. I've often wondered what could cause him to do such things."[2]

In 2009, Edgerton threatened a lawsuit regarding newly elected Asheville City Council Member Cecil Bothwell, on the basis that Bothwell's atheism rendered him ineligible to serve in North Carolina public office.[3]

In events to publicize his positions, Edgerton has made solo walks: in 2002 from North Carolina to Texas to build awareness of Southern heritage;[4] and in January 2009, when he walked from North Carolina to Washington, DC seeking "official U.S. government recognition of the Confederate battle flag as a symbol of Southern heritage" from the new administration.[5] He is perceived by some as being heroic as an African-American member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which features him at events.[5][6]

He has had a number of failed political campaigns for Asheville mayor and councilman.[7] Edgerton said that he is a supporter of President Donald Trump.

In May 2006 Edgerton advanced his theories about reparations on Penn and Teller's show Bullshit!.[8]

References
  1. Smith, David (2019-10-13). "Black Confederates: exploding America's most persistent myth". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
  2. "Black Neo-Confederate H. K. Edgerton Discusses Beliefs". Intelligence Report. No. 99, Summer 2000. Southern Poverty Law Center. September 15, 2000. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2014-08-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "The Real Price of Forgetting the Past", Civil War Memory blog, 15 September 2006
  5. Shurtleff, Andrew (January 2009). "Sons of Confederate Veterans: Black Southerner marching to D.C., seeks respect for Confederate flag". The Daily Progress – via Sons of Confederate Veterans weblog.
  6. Levin, Kevin M. "Perspective | How the myth of black Confederates was born". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
  7. H.K. EDGERTON
  8. Penn And Teller: [email protected]
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