CIC Letter to Bill O'Reilly

CIC addresses O'Reilly
14 September 2009

Dear Mr. O'Reilly,

As usual I watched the Factor tonight and am writing in reference to the discussion of the Joe Wilson situation, specifically comments by Juan Williams. Mr. Williams tried to make the point that Ms. Dowd ( NY Times ) was making a circumstantial case of racism against Rep. Wilson by pointing out that he may have been a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. This will have the effect of leaving your viewers with the impression that this organization is racist. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Mr. Williams is normally more fair than that.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans was formed in 1896 to continue the legacy of honoring those American Veterans. The SCV is a non-partisan,educational and historic organization made up of men who have Confederate ancestors regardless of race, creed, national origin or religious preference.In fact we have members from many backgrounds. The SCV has traditionally and repeatedly disavowed and rebuked hate groups that use Confederate symbolism for the wrong purposes.

You may recall the discussion last Memorial Day on whether or not the President would continue the tradition of sending a wreath to the Confederate Memorial at Arlington Cemetery. He did. I personally sent him a thank you letter for this action and this has been reported in the news.

The decent, patriotic and hard working members of the SCV deserve better than to have the impression given on the Factor that they are racist. I would expect out of fairness, at the least, this could be clarified on air, or better an apology from Mr. Williams. We would be more than willing to provide a spokesman for the SCV to make the point for us should that be possible.
Thank you for your consideration,

Chuck McMichael
Commander in Chief
Sons of Confederate Veterans
318-963-9892