Name: Franklin parent proposes plan to remove Confederate flag from Williamson County seal
Brand: tennessean.com
SKU: tennessean-com-30
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Franklin parent proposes plan to remove Confederate flag from Williamson County seal

preview

Share This Story!Let friends in your social network know what you are reading aboutThe Williamson County seal was devised in 1968, which depicts an image of a Confederate flag. A Franklin parent said it's time to remove it.A link has been sent to your friend's email address.A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Join the ConversationTo find out more about Facebook commenting please read theWelcome to our new and improved comments.This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.You will need to register before adding a comment.Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.Please be polite.It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.If you see comments in violation of our , please report them.CLOSEFranklin resident Dustin Koctar believes Williamson County should rethink its official seal, which depicts a Confederate flag, along with an image of a schoolhouse,&nbsp;a bible in front of a church window&nbsp;and farm animals.According to the county website, a description of the seal&nbsp;says the flag and cannons&nbsp;symbolize&nbsp;"the rich history in the county," while the schoolhouse illustrates&nbsp;the importance of education, the&nbsp;bible represents religion and the farm animals denote agriculture.On Monday, Koctar spoke before the Franklin Special School District Board of Education, presenting a proposal that would redesign the county seal without the Confederate flag and&nbsp;calling for&nbsp;collaboration between FSSD, Williamson County Schools, the County Commission, Mayor Anderson and the state.&nbsp;, Koctar spoke before the crowd to honor George Floyd, a black man who was killed while in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department, after officer Derek Chauvin held his knee to Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes.“All lives do not matter when a Confederate monument is in a place of prominence in our city, and the Confederate flag is on our county seal,” Koctar said.His comment drew cheers from the crowd."With the response those words drew, I realized I wasn’t the only one who felt strongly about that, and I understood if we are going to challenge something like this, we have to come up with a solution," Koctar said.By Monday, Koctar devised a proposal that would address, he explained, a symbol of racial inequity on the county seal, which was created in 1968.Koctar said he thought the best plan could also involve&nbsp;students.The recent killings of black citizens, including Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and&nbsp;Floyd, and subsequent vigils, rallies and marches around the nation and world have forced Americans to have difficult conversations about racism,&nbsp;Koctar told the FSSD school board at the in-person meeting on Monday."Many people have been having those conversations for years, even decades, and it is encouraging to see more and more people speaking up and calling for action and accountability," Koctar said.&nbsp;"With this knowledge, people are also identifying and challenging racist systems, policies&nbsp;and symbols, which is why I am here tonight."Koctar acknowledged that public displays of the Confederate battle flag have long been controversial.He noted that the county adopted the seal as the civil rights movement was happening.&nbsp;&nbsp;"The&nbsp;Williamson County seal has featured this flag in the top left corner since 1968, coincidentally the same year as the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and shortly after the integration of the schools in our county," he said.There has been a movement around the nation in cities and among institutions to discuss the removal of historical objects that depict slavery or suggest racial inequality.&nbsp;On June 5, the U.S. Marine Corps issued new rules at Marine installations and inside Marine office buildings."So if this flag is inappropriate for the U.S. Marines, it should no longer have a place on our county seal," Koctar said.Koctar's proposal includes giving FSSD and WCS students&nbsp;the opportunity to create the new county seal, which would be approved by school administrators and&nbsp;the county commission. "Now is the time for Williamson County to do the same thing to show a lasting change," said Koctar, who has three children attending a school in FSSD.&nbsp;"And what better way than to highlight the talents, creativity&nbsp;and courage of our students."According to county attorney Jeff Moseley, the Tennessee Historical Commission holds&nbsp;the authority to allow Williamson County to alter its seal under state law."Any memorial including artwork that commemorates a historic conflict like the Civil War&nbsp;cannot be altered unless its by the Tennessee Historical Commission," he said."Neither the mayor&nbsp;nor commission has the&nbsp;power to alter the&nbsp;seal."Although the county commission does not have the authority to change the seal, it does have the authority to vote on a resolution requesting that the state commission change the seal.Such as resolution&nbsp;would require a two-thirds vote to pass.According to some county commissioners, several citizens have sent in letters asking the commission to consider the proposal and remove the Confederate flag from the seal.The seal, designed by county historian Virginia Bowman and journalist James H. Armistead, was accepted by Judge Fulton Greer at the July 15, 1968 Quarterly Court Term, according to county records.The next step Koctar said is to discuss&nbsp;the proposal with the county commission and WCS leadership.Kerri Bartlett covers issues affecting children, families, education and government in Williamson County. She can be contacted at&nbsp;kbartlett@gannett.com, 615-308-8324 or @keb1414 on Twitter.Read or Share this story: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/williamson/franklin/2020/06/08/williamson-county-seal-confederate-flag-dustin-koctar/5323464002/to help improve our site experience!More Stories

Share This Story!Let friends in your social network know what you are reading aboutThe Williamson County seal was devised in 1968, which depicts an image of a Confederate flag. A Franklin parent said it's time to remove it.A link has been sent to your friend's email address.A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Join the ConversationTo find out more about Facebook commenting please read theWelcome to our new and improved comments.This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.You will need to register before...

Franklin parent proposes plan to remove Confederate flag from Williamson County seal

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS