Walt Dortch wrote:
El Capitan Blake <salute>
2) [The wording of this question was difficult – hopefully I didn’t butcher it] We live in a different world than existed in 1997. I have always found the Club to be a very welcoming and accepting place where all are welcome. Yet the Club has no official declaration of the fact that we do not condone any sort of racism or prejudice and will not tolerate any member, ever, using our boards in any way to promote any hurtful or hate-filled messages. Our use of the Confederate flag is to both honor our ancestors [for us southerners] and because it is a relic of the period we portray. We do not display it as a symbol of intimidation or hate. The Blitz Wargaming Club has a very blunt message on their site that they do not tolerate any racist remarks or actions by their members using the forum. Do you think it is time the ACWGC state officially what we have always taken for granted? That all are welcome and while we do portray a historical period many find uncomfortable and painful to remember that we are a group of online gamers who treat others with only courtesy and respect.
The short answer is yes. There is some language that gets to this in various places in the rules, in the Forum headers and in the Club Philosophy Paragraph that used to be on the home page. But that language is not emphatically clear nor is it front and center. ACW Talk has a similar declaration as you describe for the Blitz. I think a short and clear declaration that the Club is a place for gamers and historical discussion related to the military aspects of the ACW is what the ACWGC all about and should also include a statement such as yours that the Club will not “condone any sort of racism or prejudice and will not tolerate any member, ever, using our boards in any way to promote any hurtful or hate-filled messages.” This declaration should be displayed on the Website Homepage. A good place to for this to land would be right under the “How to Apply” button on the homepage.
I remain concerned about the proposal for a statement such as you propose and this concern has been heightened by the proposed new rule change (2.6.5.1). These things can get out of control as some people strive to be perceived as 'doing the right thing'. In the CivilWarTalk Forums I have had a few posts there removed or edited for merely mentioning some things [e.g. in factually referring to BLM in regards I had one post removed and another severely edited - I have learnt my lesson there and now just say 'protestors' if there is a need for me to refer to such a thing.]
These things have particular effect upon those of us on the CSA side of the club. It has been seen that already bills are being placed before US Governments and laws are being passed where Confederate names and flags are to be removed/outlawed because their mere existence is deemed as racist or hurtful. Here are just three:
1. Section 377 (a) of HR 6395 [removes "all names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the “Confederacy”) or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America from all assets of the Department of Defense"] passed both houses and has been sent to the President
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/6395;
2. New York Governor has made a law prohibiting the sale of hate symbols (the Confederate Flag is deemed as such) on public grounds including state and local fairs, and also severely limits their display -
https://nypost.com/2020/12/15/cuomo-signs-bill-banning-sale-of-confederate-flags/?utm_medium=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow;
3. Section 442 of H.R.7608 has passed the lower house and is with the Senate ["the National Park Service shall remove from display all physical Confederate commemorative works, such as statues, monuments, sculptures, memorials, and plaques".] This basically means all Confederate commemorative works (even plaques) in historic battlefields.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/7608/textI said earlier in this thread, "In the short time I have been a member of ACWGC I have seen nothing that is offensive in a racial or other context. I have read all posts that have appeared since my membership commenced in addition to many earlier ones. If anything offensive had been posted then existing club rules have been sufficient to have either discouraged it in the first place or to have it removed after it was posted."
A disclaimer as proposed would have the potential to create needless controversy and if such a statement is to be placed as an "open and up-front disclaimer displayed over the door" there will have to be very careful consideration on the wording of it.
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