H. K. Edgerton facts for kids
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H. K. Edgerton
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Edgerton reciting a Civil War poem during a Sons of Confederate Veterans and United Daughters of the Confederacy meeting in Tampa, Florida
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Harold Kenneth Edgerton
February 18, 1948 North Carolina, U.S.
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| Occupation | Activist |
| Known for | Advocacy of Southern heritage and the Confederate Flag |
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Harold Kenneth Edgerton (born February 18, 1948) is an American neoconfederate activist, known for his advocacy of Southern heritage and the Confederate flag. An African-American member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Edgerton formerly served as president of the Asheville, North Carolina, chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and is currently on the board of the Southern Legal Resource Center.
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Biography
Early life
Edgerton was born in North Carolina on February 18, 1948, the son of Roger Roland Edgerton (1917-1994), a Protestant 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 his local 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.
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."
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.
In events to publicize his positions, Edgerton has made solo walks: in 2002 from North Carolina to Texas to build awareness of Southern heritage; 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. He is perceived by some as being heroic as an African-American member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which features him at events.
He has had a number of failed political campaigns for Asheville mayor and councilman.
See also
- Nelson W. Winbush, another African-American member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans
- Mattie Clyburn Rice, African-American member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
