Confederate flags fluttered in the breeze on the southwest corner of the Daviess County Courthouse lawn Saturday morning, and a large crowd wearing mostly red sang Dixies Land at one point.

An early morning rain stopped for the hour-long Save the Confederate Statue rally. Shortly after the event ended, a steady rain drenched Owensboro.

The rally was staged to provide a forum for local residents who want a monument to a Confederate soldier to remain on the courthouse lawn, where it has been for 120 years.

My Old Kentucky Home played on a loud speaker moments before the event started. Men dressed in Civil War-era costumes and carrying rifles with bayonets stood around the statue.

Members of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans, a heritage group, gathered near the stage. Some passing motorists honked to show support as they drove by on Frederica Street.

At the rally, many people carried signs.

One man strapped the 10 Commandments to his chest.

Another hoisted this message: We are one. All lives matter.

Someone else held a large sign that read, Remembering ugly history ensures a beautiful future.

Jack Gish, who leads the group that wants the statue to remain at the courthouse, said he hopes Daviess County Fiscal Court does not bow to pressure to remove the monument.

This is part of history, and it needs to remain, Gish told the crowd.

Amen! a man in the crowd replied.

Amid growing pressure around the commonwealth to remove Confederate statues on courthouse lawns, Daviess Fiscal Court was slated to vote June 30 on returning the statue to the United Daughters of the Confederacy Kentucky Chapter.

Instead the court, through a motion presented by County Commissioner George Wathen and backed by commissioners Charlie Castlen and Mike Koger, delayed the vote until Thursday. Daviess County Judge-Executive Al Mattingly dissented.

Saturdays rally was meant to bring together those who favor keeping the statue where it is, but also to offer education about the monument and its historical relevance outside of the negative narrative that has arisen nationally surrounding similar Confederate iconography.

Locally, the Owensboro chapter of the NAACP is leading a community-based effort to move the statue to a museum or other setting where it can be used for educational purposes.

Everybody has a right to freedom of speech, the Rev. Rhondalyn Randolph, president of the local NAACP chapter, said of the rally. But I think everyone has a responsibility and should be held accountable for what they say.

Randolph did not attend the event or watch it online.

People on both sides of the Confederate statue issue feel strongly, and minds were set before the rally, she said. Randolph doubts any opinions were swayed by the event.

Lets move forward for the betterment of everybody, she said. I pray the county commission will do the right thing. ... Lets learn from what we have gone through, and let us move on.

Theresa Jones, who represented the UDC, was one of the events speakers. There is no reason this statue needs to be moved, Jones told the crowd.

During the Civil War, many soldiers were buried in joint graves in ditches and fields. The statue was created to honor them, she said.

For 120 years, this statue has stood right here, Jones said. Lets ask our community to use it as a teaching moment.

H. K. Edgerton, an Asheville, North Carolina, Black activist for Southern heritage, was the rallys keynote speaker. He was dressed in a gray flannel Confederate uniform.

I am not going to say anything until we sing Dixie, Edgerton told the crowd when he first took the stage.

He led the crowd in the unofficial Confederate anthem while he waved the Souths flag.

At the songs end, the audience let out a collective Whoo!

Edgerton said the statue was not built for white Confederate soldiers only, but it is an integrated war memorial for people of all colors who fought, including Black men.

They are with us no more, he said of Confederate soldiers, but the memory of their noble and upright life, of what they did and sought to do for the good of the South will be cherished to the end of time. The greatest weapon the South had was the irrepressible spirit of the Southern soldier.

During Edgertons speech, a man in a white Toyota truck drove down Third Street with a Black Lives Matter banner hanging out the drivers side window. The trucks driver stopped near the stage and honked the horn to disrupt the rally.

He later parked his truck and walked to the corner of Frederica and Third streets, carrying the banner.

Edgerton left the stage, grabbed a Confederate flag and walked toward the man, along with several people attending the rally. No exchange took place. Instead, the group returned to the rally peacefully.

Near the end of his speech, Edgerton asked those in attendance to stand up against those who want to remove the statue from the courthouse lawn and have the courage of your ancestors.

More here:

Rallying cry: 'There is no reason this statue needs to be moved' - messenger-inquirer