From Escambia County Commissioner Grover Robinson:
Recently in talking with a citizen I mentioned the County spends over $300-million annually on its budget with little to no comments from the public. However, four pieces of cloth or historic flags send nearly everyone into comment. This is a very true statement in Escambia County; however, it represents both the community’s best and worst.
The best is clearly brought out in the diversity of cultures in this community and the vast amount of support Escambia County gives to promoting its culture. While it was not my intent to originally remove the flags, I was shocked by the amount of news coverage, editorials and citizens comments related to that decision. However, as a student of history I should have been more cognizant of what culture means.
Culture identifies and defines us. Each symbol, while it can represent multiple meanings, has a specific meaning to any individual which will not be the same to another citizen in Escambia County. Still there are parts of that symbol that will generate a strong identification bond.
Towards that end, Escambia County has worked long and hard to support diverse historical culture in this community. The five flags at the Bay Center is one small representation. A much larger and wider look shows the Board has not only supported history annually through UWF but also the African-American Historical Society. We have also supported cultural events through a variety of our diverse ethnic communities including Indian (not Native American). In addition, we have supported our Native American culture by providing a home to the Muscogee Creek Indians for a museum off of Gulf Beach Highway where they proudly display symbols of our Native American heritage.
Besides Escambia County the City of Pensacola offers a wide support of different cultures within our community from the statues of Spanish generals and Conquistadores to Martin Luther King, Jr. Escambia County is big enough for us to celebrate the diversity of symbols and cultures we represent.
At the same time I am all too aware that the symbols we choose must be respectful. This is the main reason why I originally moved to replace the “Battle Flag†and join the City of Pensacola in the display of our cultural history. When I recently saw the film “Selmaâ€, it does not take long to see how the “Battle Flag†was replaced beyond its historical meaning to one that represents hate and intolerance. At the same time, I did not see a single “Stars and Bars†being displayed to represent that. In fact I find it incredibly, historically ironic that the City of Pensacola chooses to fly a flag which the Confederate States of America’s legislature actively rejected.
With all that said, the recent debate does also display some of the negative aspects of our community. It has been surprising and disappointing just how much intolerance there has been in objecting to the local flags and diversity of culture within our community. As I said earlier, none of us will see the exact same thing in any historical cultural symbol. In fact almost every culture we have in this community is disliked by someone else within our community. However, the bigger importance is the tolerance and respect we show in allowing those symbols to be displayed and realizing the diversity within our community. If one culture cannot respect another culture how can they expect to promote their own?
As a student of history, I certainly am cognizant, that throughout our history, respect has not always been widely recognized. However, I say to every individual including myself I cannot control what others before or after me do, but that is not an excuse for my personal behavior.
For that reason, I believe it is important to respectfully allow the display of culture throughout our community and it is the reason that I support the historic flags at the Pensacola Bay Center. While I understand each of us brings our individual feelings, it is my sincere hope that we will work in a respectful way to allow for a variety of cultures in Escambia County, including our 5 historic flags.