{"id":106378,"date":"2016-03-06T22:43:15","date_gmt":"2016-03-07T05:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/counterrally-planned-for-confederate-flag-ride\/"},"modified":"2016-03-06T22:43:15","modified_gmt":"2016-03-07T05:43:15","slug":"counterrally-planned-for-confederate-flag-ride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/counterrally-planned-for-confederate-flag-ride\/","title":{"rendered":"Counterrally planned for Confederate flag ride"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"One
One group\u2019s plans to hold a Confederate flag ride from Durango to Pagosa Springs on Saturday is being met by efforts to organize a counterrally at the La Plata County Fairgrounds.<\/span>Associated Press file photo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A counterprotest is planned to \u201cconfront and stop\u201d a Confederate flag ride from Durango to Pagosa Springs.<\/p>\n

A local group called Rocky Mountain Confederate Conservation plans to meet at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the La Plata County Fairgrounds and drive 60 miles to Red Ryder Arena in Pagosa Springs while displaying Confederate flags.<\/p>\n

La Plata County resident Rosalee Reed said the event is about preserving history and educating people about the true meaning of the flag\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

As word of the ride spread, a movement to send a different message quickly organized on social media.<\/p>\n

About a dozen local groups plan to meet at 1 p.m. Saturday at the fairgrounds in Durango to oppose the flag\u2019s symbolism and support inclusion and tolerance, according to a Facebook post.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re calling on anti-racist and anti-fascists everywhere to converge on Durango, Colorado, this Saturday to disrupt and put a stop to this event,\u201d the Facebook post says. \u201cDurango is a very isolated community, so please join us! Our ability to confront and stop these racists is dependent on outside support! Bring friends and family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anthony Nocella, an organizer and assistant professor of sociology at Fort Lewis College, said it doesn\u2019t matter that certain individuals take pride in the Confederate flag. What is important is that millions of people are affected by the symbol.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are we going around with a symbol that hurts people symbolically and historically?\u201d he said. \u201cIsn\u2019t there another way to show your pride in your culture?<\/p>\n

\u201cI would also argue that this is not the South,\u201d he said. \u201cColorado was not part of the South and never has been part of the South. So we also need to know our geography.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nocella expects 50 people or more will participate in the counterrally. They plan to promote Durango as a place of inclusion, regardless of sexuality, race, ethnicity and disability.<\/p>\n

Tourism is too important to Durango to be exclusive, he said.<\/p>\n

Reed, with Rocky Mountain Confederate Conservation, did not respond to an email Friday seeking comment about the counterrally.<\/p>\n

In a previous interview, Reed said the Confederate flag is a piece of Civil War history that has come to be misunderstood.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to worry about how everyone feels about everything, then we\u2019ll end up losing everything that we\u2019ve got,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Durango Police Department plans to monitor the events at the fairgrounds, said Lt. Darrell Robertson. But it has no plans to stop the Confederate flag ride from taking place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rights of law-abiding citizens engaging in peaceful assembly, freedom of expression and movement is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and the exercise of their rights raises no heightened sense of concern for the Durango Police Department,\u201d Robertson wrote in an email to the Herald. \u201cAs always, the Durango Police Department is always vigilant and prepared to respond to any criminal activity in our city.\u201d<\/p>\n

shane@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Organizers aim to defy display of Confederate symbol<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":106379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[1175,5692,13,167],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-106378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-civil-rights","tag-civil-war","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-local-news-lead"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106378"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=106378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}