Local man calls for Lee portrait change, ban on Confederate flags

LEE COUNTY, Fla.- James Gillespie calls himself a ‘spiritual pastor’ affiliated with Good Shepard United Methodist Church in North Fort Myers.

He grew up in Selma Alabama during the segregation years of the 1950s, and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

He learned to treat people equally, regardless of skin color. He did keep a Confederate battle flag for 24 years, and accepted living now in a county named for Confederate General Robert E. Lee. But the Charleston massacre of last week, changed that.

“Why aren’t we preventing these things, rather than just waiting for some idiot to come forward and try this stuff?” asked Gillespie.

As a result of thinking about the apparent hate crime in South Carolina, Gillespie is encouraging people to lobby for change. Specifically, to change the portrait of General Lee that hangs in the county commission meeting room. Lee is seen in uniform with a saber.

“Let’s show him in civilian dress, because he was a man of letters and education, not just a man of war,” argued Gillespie. He believes a more benign-looking Lee will be less racially offensive.

Lee board chair Brian Hamman says that idea would offend some people. But keeping the portrait will offend some too.

“It is a no-win situation. I do believe, this is a county that was named for General Lee, and so I think it’s probably okay to show a portrait of General Lee,” said Hamman.

As for the Confederate battle flag, Gillespie burned his a couple of days ago, and posted it on YouTube.

“It is a racist thing now, it’s been taken over by racists and hate-mongers,” said Gillespie. “If guys are flying it in their trucks, they may get a rock through the window.  And that is because people see it [the flag] as racist. That’s my point. It’s heritage and note-worthiness is gone.”