November 12, 2003

Members of the General Executive Council, Sons of Confederate Veterans

Dear Sirs:

On September 11, 2003, I emailed members of the General Executive Council and sent by registered mail to Judge Advocate Burl McCoy a letter requesting resolution of the suspensions instituted by CIC Wilson in late January/early February of 2003 against several members and camps in the North Carolina Division. I hoped that you would address this matter at the October GEC meeting so this aspect of the current controversy would be resolved by the end of the year.

As of this date, I have neither been notified by the Judge Advocate in Chief nor by the GEC that my letter was received. I have not been informed that the matter was, or was not, discussed at the October meeting. I have not even been informed as to whether or not the GEC ever intends to do anything to resolve this matter. While we at Save the SCV are no longer surprised at irresponsible conduct by Wilson appointees, we had hoped that you gentlemen, acting as a body, would prove to be more professional.

As required by the SCV constitution, this matter should have been brought before the convention in Asheville for a vote. It was not brought forward at that time for one reason and one reason only: the CIC was afraid that he would lose. CIC Wilson’s failure to discharge his constitutional duty in this matter is a separate issue and has been addressed in charges now pending before you, although, again, there has been no confirmation of the receipt of those charges.

Since the suspensions were not sustained by the convention, we at Save the SCV, acting on behalf of those camps and individuals that were suspended, call for those camps and individuals to be reinstated by you, the GEC. To do otherwise grants to this CIC and, by precedent any future CIC, the power to permanently suspend and disenfranchise any SCV member and/or organizational subdivision. This is dictatorial power, pure and simple.

Some suspended members have resigned under the duress created by the SCV’s failure to resolve this matter. Many more of them, and others who believe in our constitution, will fail to renew their memberships in 2004. The suspended camps have for the most part continued to function as they always have. They meet regularly and honor our Confederate ancestors. They have conducted school programs, taken part in reenactments and living history events, participated in Confederate Memorial Day programs, and restored or erected monuments to Confederate veterans. In short, they continue to accomplish the mission of the SCV.

In the meantime, these same camps and compatriots have been prevented from participating in SCV business meetings for more than nine months, including the three months since the Asheville convention. Some compatriots have been stricken from national and division newsletter lists. No suspended compatriot has been allowed to vote or to voice his concerns at SCV gatherings. Many of them have been subjected to public verbal abuse and some have been threatened with assault. Your lack of decisiveness emboldens the violence-prone element in our organization and endangers suspended compatriots and their supporters.

A minority of members in two of the camps have taken the Wilson-loyalty oath and have reorganized their camps with leadership approved by the CIC. However, the majority of camps and compatriots remain on suspension; not knowing if they should send in their dues for 2004, not knowing if the division commander will "misplace" the dues that are sent in, and wondering if the GEC has turned its back on them and on the SCV constitution.

The GEC must act now to resolve this matter. Either uphold the SCV’s constitution and reinstate us, or terminate our memberships along with the rule of law.

W. Hugh Harkey