Over the weekend, a vandal defaced a monument to Orange County’s Confederate pioneers in Santa Ana Cemetery with red spray paint. Now, one side of the pillar read “racists” in graffiti. Santa Ana police took a report on the vandalism on Sunday and assigned the case to a property crimes detective. Billed as “the largest Confederate monument in the Western United States” when dedicated in 2004–yes, you read that right–by the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) Camp 1770, the memorial already faced an uncertain future following race riots in Charlottesville two summers ago.
That’s when former Weekly editor Gustavo Arellano exposed the monument, one of the last of its kind in California, in all its shamefulness.
The pillar is etched with “1861 C.S.A. 1865” on top in paying tribute to the Confederate States of America. Down below rested a Southern Cross of Honor complete with the Stars and Bars. It appears that whoever was responsible for the vandalism also took it off the monument.
Then, there reads the main inscription on that same side.
To honor the sacred memory of the pioneers who built Orange County after their valiant efforts to defend the Cause of Southern Independence.
Um, slavery!
Former SanTana mayor and amateur historian Gordon Bricken got the bright idea to erect the monument he’s now buried a few feet from when, apparently, OC’s Confederate veterans-turned-pioneers didn’t get their proper historical due. One of the pioneers that the pillar stands to remember is Henry W. Head, the former Gray who went on to join Nathan Bedford Forrest’s original Ku Klux Klan. Head moved to present-day Garden Grove, became a state assemblyman and helped in early efforts to have OC secede from Los Angeles County.
Of course, the OC that eventually came into existence tried its damnedest to keep blacks out while keeping Mexicans segregated throughout the years. The sordid history behind the tribute is, of course, rarely mentioned in write ups on the vandalism.
That allows for folks like Patricia Bricken, Gordon’s daughter, to tell the OC Register that the monument her father helped bring about was never intended to glorify the Stars and Bars and anything that the Rebs may have done during the Civil War. Sure…
She also bemoaned that the tribute stood on private property and wasn’t forced on anybody. But in the wake of Charlottesville, cemetery district officials did a double take on the monument and couldn’t find any records or permits approving it. The SCV Camp 1770 apparently gave up when cemetery officials offered them a chance to keep the monument under certain modifications and conditions. In turn, they approved its removal earlier this month.
“We are outraged by this vandalism to the CSA monument in the old Santa Ana cemetery,” wrote Robert L. Williams, SCV Camp 1770 commander, on California Sons of Confederate Veterans’ Facebook page. “There is no right; no excuse, for vandalism and destruction of property, especially in a Memorial Park.” The group claims the memorial was approved by the cemetery board in 2003 and vows to fight its removal. They also blame cemetery security staff for being “complicit” in the vandalism. Last year, SCV Camp 1770 paid for and added a black granite plaque honoring 10 Confederate veteran OC pioneers like Orange city father William T. Glassell, SanTana city treasurer John M. Lacy and Head.
OC’s towering tribute to its Confederate pioneers, covered in tarp following defacement, is spending what could be its last days by being emblazoned in headlines and stories that miss the historical irony of its fate. As Arellano noted, Gordon Bricken’s The Civil War Legacy spells out his own motivation for the monument effort when youth vandalized a Confederate marker in Santa Ana Cemetery.
On Fourth of July weekend, a vandal returned the favor in red.
Updated with quote from Robert L. Williams of SCV Camp 1770.
Gabriel San Román is from Anacrime. He’s a journalist, subversive historian and the tallest Mexican in OC. He also once stood falsely accused of writing articles on Turkish politics in exchange for free food from DönerG’s!
Here’s an idea, let’s get rid of it!
Great article! Thank you for sharing a bit of history about where it came from and it’s true nature behind it and the history of OC.
it was me. i am spartacus
Huh?
Good… Fuck the Confederate monuments. They should all be torn down.
A la mierda sus intituciones y simbolos racistas.
HILARIOUS, liberals will cry and whine about slavery that happened 150+ years ago but are silent about actual slavery happening at this moment.
Yes, it’s more than slightly hypocritical; mostly because all the whining about racism, slavery and the Confederacy are just canards to keep the “white privilege” hoax going.
But hey, i’m just a Hater…
I’m good with that but how about tearing down all the Spanish missions as well? They are a reminder of the invasion by the Spaniards and the Catholicism that raped and pillaged and murdered it’s way through the indigenous tribes of california.
This is the same Michael Hoskinson who thought he was brave by posting anti-Muslim memes on his Facebook page some years ago. Fey fuck has the balls of a mite.
Absolutely!! And fuck Gordon Bricker!! One less deplorable on this planet, hope the vandals took a piss on his grave.
And also Tear down the Democrat Slave Party Name
It aslo is a symbol of Racial Hate
Rename the Democrat Slave Party with something positive.
We must lead by example.
It never bothered anyone before why vandal it. People just give more attention to it, why. People need to pick their battles.
I haven’t read all the comments so apologize if this thought has been spoken to. Also, I have no allegiance what-so-ever to confederate vs yankee issues. Slavery and/or racism in any form today, in the U.S., should be criminal.
Given that, what happened to free speech, whether or not agreed with, not to mention respect for others’ free speech? I understand “we the people” feel strongly on both sides. Here’s an idea…why not put another monument up against slavery or racism or black pride (I don’t really know the painter’s mind) instead of deriding the free speech of ones already there?