Beaufort Sons of Confederate Veterans condemns hate groups and the removal of monuments and memorials

Beaufort’s Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) condemns and denounces the recent violence that occurred in Charlottesville, Va., in which three lives were lost. The expressions of hatred and racism by white supremacy groups have no place in our society. The killing of innocent people in order to promote the cause of hate is beyond contempt.

The SCV’s duty is to ensure that the true history of the South is presented to future generations, and as such, we deplore the fact that hate groups have appropriated our emblems and, in doing so, have distorted the history of the South’s secession.

The denial or distortion of historic events by the removal or desecration of monuments and statues will not change the events that happened in our great country throughout our past; indeed, they will only serve to increase the division that inflicts our society.

These symbols must be used to educate future generations so that we may account in a truthful way for what has happened. They remind us and future generations that Southerners believed so strongly in their independence and that Northerners so opposed the division of the United States that all were willing to give their lives.

This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Beaufort Sons of Confederate Veterans condemns hate groups and the removal of monuments and memorials."