By Roger Boughton, Guest columnist

Issues surrounding the Confederate Flag have arisen these past few weeks following the tragic death of nine individuals in Charleston, South Carolina. Several friends at coffee inquired as to why I don’t share my stories of our family living in rural Virginia during the tumultuous times of the 1960s. Our family has a history with the Confederate Flag while living in the South. In 1960 my parents moved from Northern Ohio to rural Virginia following the purchase of a small fast-food restaurant. It was a franchise of Tastee Freez.

Prior to this move my father worked at the Plum Brook Nuclear Reactor near Sandusky, Ohio, on Lake Erie until it was closed. It was NASA’s first and last nuclear reactor. Being out of work necessitated that my father seek employment and being in his late 50’s employment was difficult to find. Finding a small business in southwestern Virginia at the foothills of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains seemed to fit the bill. It was also during this decade that in 1965 the community of Appomattox was looking forward to celebrating the 100 anniversary of the end of the Civil War. The small town of Appomattox was expecting 1 million visitors to visit Appomattox Court House and the surrender grounds just outside of Appomattox, Virginia. The population of the community was just less than 2,000 individuals. A community very similar to Blooming Prairie, Minnesota.

The family business was on Main Street and the members of the small business community thought it would be appropriate to put up the Confederate Flag on all of the street light poles along Main Street for all to see when coming into town. Our restaurant sat adjacent to the black high school and the black community was welcome since there were no sit down seats. The county schools at the time were segregated with a black school and a white school.

It did not take long for the black community to visit my father and request the Confederate flag be taken down or they would boycott the business. Since the black community could not eat at a white sit down restaurant they were better than 50 percent of the clientele of the family business. My father being from the north did not fully realize the significance of the flag but removed the flag from the pole in front of the Tastee Freez. Soon after the white business leaders of the community visited my father at the business and wondered why the flag was no longer flying in front of the business? Fortunately, my father was quick on his feet and indicated that someone had stolen the flag and he was not about to put up another flag for someone to steal.

After several years living and working long hours at the business my parents decided it was time for a vacation. They gathered the employees being about 13 and informed them that they would be gone two weeks and they would make Alysa in charge as she was the brightest, hardest worker and most dependable. Not so said the other 12 employees. They could not take orders from a black individual. Thus, my father made all of the employees for a short two weeks the managers while they slipped off to Florida.

Returning to Appomattox with a wife and a willingness to help out the business when my parents became too ill to run the business I obtained a job as a teacher in the white county school. I was to teach American History and become a part time guidance counselor during the day while my wife Cheryl ran the business during the day. I found out to my surprise that when teaching American History one taught up to the Civil War but not of the Civil War. Thus, history seemed to stop between 1861 and 1865.

We returned to Appomattox several years ago to see what had become of our friends, the family business and the community of Appomattox. Much to our pleasant surprise the schools were fully integrated, the Tastee Freez had been replaced with a McDonald’s and our best friend indicated that relations between the races had vastly improved and most people were color blind. The churches seemed to be a significant factor in the welcoming changes. The community of Appomattox had become the Lanesboro of the south with a thriving art community with several B&B’s.

People do change over time along with attitudes, belief’s and the culture. The great attribute of America is that it is the catalyst for change allowing for a blending of cultures that brings about change. It just sometimes seems like it takes forever!

Roger Boughton is a former Austin City Council Member and a former Riverland Community College administrator. He’s also held several other community posts.