Davis says Dowdell was wrong to remove flags

U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, said Saturday he did not condone Auburn Councilman Arthur L. Dowdell removing Confederate flags from the graves in Pine Hill Cemetery. The flags were placed on the graves as part of today’s Confederate Memorial Day observance.

Davis, a Harvard-educated Montgomery native, was visiting Auburn as part of his campaign for governor.

“I would have a different approach and a different opinion than what he did,” Davis said. “I respect all cemeteries and people have a right to honor the dead in the way that they want.”

Dowdell, who touched off a major controversy Thursday when he removed some of the flags, said Saturday that he didn’t need anyone from out of town telling him what to do.

“I don’t care whether a congressman came to town. I don’t vote for him,” he said.

Dowdell also backed off his earlier statement that he would go to the cemetery Monday and remove the remainder of the flags. He said Saturday that he would not go to the cemetery Monday.

Meanwhile, a New Jersey-based, white supremacist radio host said he faxed a letter to the Auburn Police Division Saturday saying that he is considering bringing the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, skinheads and other groups to Auburn to protest Dowdell’s action.

Davis, who had a campaign stop at the Olde Auburn Ale House, said graves are deeded private property, and Dowdell did not have the right to take the flags.

“We have to live with each other no matter what our differences and no matter what our history. We’re simultaneously the capital of the civil rights movement and the capital of the Confederacy,” he said. “Neither one of those parts of our past is going to disappear, and whoever is governor of this state has a moral obligation to respect all Alabamians.”

Davis said he understands the multiple meanings associated with the flag.

“There are undoubtedly people who are offended by the Confederate flag, and they every right to be. And there are undoubtedly people who venerate the Confederate flag and honor it, and they have every right to do that, too,” he said. “The question is are there things we have in common?

“The fact that my ancestors were on one side of the Civil War and some of my constituents’ ancestors were on the other side doesn’t mean we can’t work together and find a common ground.”

Dowdell said he did not regret taking the flags. He said he planned to introduce a resolution to the Auburn City Council to make all cemetery rules in the city uniform.

Auburn Assistant Police Chief Tommy Dawson said Saturday he had not seen the fax from white supremacist Hal Turner, but he said he would do everything possible to protect Auburn citizens if a march occurs.

“If somebody comes to demonstrate they would have to have a parade permit,” he said. “We would certainly try to maintain the peace and safety of our citizens.”

In his letter, Turner said he had staged numerous marches and that they cost local local governments tens of thousands of dollars in law enforcement and other expenses.

The letter demands that Dowdell replace the flags and that the city file criminal charges against him.