Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Question of the day

Posted in:

Illinois

* Confederate Railroad’s Facebook page…

CONFEDERATE RAILROAD DECLINES COMPENSATION FROM DU QUOIN FAIR
The Band Rejects Payment Due to Its “Guiding Principles”

Nashville, Tennessee (August 27, 2019) — ACM Award-winning and CMA Award-nominated country band Confederate Railroad continues its trek across the United States in support of its “Lucky To Be Alive” Tour that will conclude this December.

Drawing national attention, this tour has not been the smoothest for the band. As Associated Press reported on August 6, 2019 — Confederate Railroad was dropped from the performing talent lineup at the Du Quoin, Illinois Fair 2 months after being secured for the show. Read here: https://loom.ly/T4LRhLU

Concerning the band’s decision to decline compensation from the Fair, the three decade-old band has released the following statement via its founding member and lead singer Danny Shirley:

“On June 24th, 2019, the Du Quoin State Fair agreed to pay us in full. We contemplated the proper use of this money. The band agreed we should give it to a charitable organization that directly benefits the people of Southern Illinois. Those “tax dollars” (https://loom.ly/qHl7vLY) belong to the people of southern Illinois, and to see some good come from it seemed like the best solution. On July 19, 2019, we received a multi-page conditional legal release in order to obtain that payment.

After months of being referred to as promoters of hate and racism, without one individual stepping forward to cite any such personal occurrence - ever- and 30 years of performing to the contrary: I simply cannot and will not accept this money that requires their conditional Settlement Agreement and Release. Hopefully, they will be guided to put that money back into the region, as we intended to do.

We’ve fulfilled the conditions twice previously with performances at this fair. The offer was submitted from the fair on April 17, 2019, and a contract was sent shortly thereafter. Then, on June 4th, the fair requested a proposed announce date of June 17th and proceeded to advertise.

I’m forever grateful and humbled by the people of southern Illinois and your words of encouragement are deeply felt. A decision was made for you—one intended to mute your voices and cause you to question your morals. Never apologize for thinking for yourself or let anyone shame you out of your own common sense.

Our track now leads to Black Diamond Harley in Marion—see you in 10 days.”

The state was supposed to pay the band $7,500.

* The Question: What should the state do with this $7,500 refund?

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 1:49 pm

Comments

Restoration of Union soldier statues.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 1:54 pm
Give it to the State of Tennessee for maintenance of Fort Pillow State Historic Park? /s ?

Comment by Anyone Remember Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 1:55 pm
Put up a plaque clarifying what the civil war was about and who won it.

Comment by Who else Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 1:55 pm
Offer to replace the Emmett Till sign in Glendora, Mississippi that was vandalized for the third time about a month ago.

Comment by L.A. Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 1:56 pm
Oswego Willy, like the Union Army, for the win.

Comment by Northsider Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 1:56 pm
If I was to express my opinion regarding what the State should do with this money I would be banned from this site.

Comment by MOON Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 1:59 pm
(Tips cap to - Northsider -)

New signage changing confederate heroes celebrated here.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:01 pm
A stone memorial to the anonymous Facebook user(s) who bravely stood up for the confederate flag in the state that calls its self ‘The Land of Lincoln’
or
An interactive exhibit at future fairs on ‘Cook County Values’

Comment by OneMan Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:01 pm
–On July 19, 2019, we received a multi-page conditional legal release in order to obtain that payment.–

If that’s true it seems odd - the band may not be entitled to anything else, but an unconditional refund seems appropriate under the circumstnaces.

As for the money, realizing this is fanciful but I’d give it to an organization like Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International that fights slavery going on –right now–.

Comment by lake county democrat Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:03 pm
Buy a block of airtime on WJPF to play “John Brown’s Body” over and over and over again.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:04 pm
Southside Chicago Planned Parenthood

Comment by Honeybear Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:05 pm
Give it to Du Quoin Community Unit School District #300.

Comment by Donnie Elgin Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:07 pm
Launch a campaign to build a memorial to those who laid down their lives in the Civil War for the Union Army, listing their names and home counties.

In Mt. Vernon.

Comment by Thomas Paine Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:07 pm
Sorry, about the above. I was thinking that it would really offend them but it could be construed differently. My apologies if it is. Rich you can delete if you want. Sorry

Comment by Honeybear Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:07 pm
Repair something at the DuQuoin fairgrounds.
We are still too far in debt to be donating money.

Comment by thoughts matter Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:09 pm
Hold a drawing at the band’s Marion performance for an all expense paid trip for four to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C.

Rala eye opener that would be.

Comment by don the legend Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:10 pm
A “You are Not in the South. Deal With It.” ad campaign in the area.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:10 pm
They should give it to the band without the conditional release.

Comment by R A T Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:11 pm
Pay a consultant to draft the constitution for the new state of Notchicago.

Comment by Montrose Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:11 pm
“Real” eye opener. Sorry for the fat fingers.

Comment by don the legend Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:11 pm
I like your suggestion, HB.

Mine is the Southern Illinois Community Foundation.

Comment by Cheryl44 Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:13 pm
Parlay it. Bet it all on the Bears and the over.

Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:13 pm
Open bar at the Black Diamond Harley in Marion

Comment by Birdseed Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:16 pm
Reenactment of Lee’s Surrender at Appomattox Court House.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:16 pm
How about funding a PR push for the John A Logan Museum in Murphysboro to remind people who Southern Illinois heroes are.

https://www.loganmuseum.org/

“His advocacy of equality for African Americans and women was well ahead of his time.”

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:16 pm
Add it the millions of additional dollars the poor put upon taxpayer of Southern Illinois get beyond what they pay in each year… maybe then they won’t feel so taken advantage of.

Comment by Concerned Dem Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:23 pm
“Reenactment of Lee’s Surrender at Appomattox Court House.”

On the Fairgrounds, of course.

Comment by NIU Grad Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:25 pm
History textbooks, leave one on every doorstep.

Comment by JT Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:25 pm
-How about funding a PR push for the John A Logan Museum …-

Michelle, that is a good idea.

-Parlay it. Bet it all on the Bears and the over.-

Not if the game’s outcome depends on a kicker.

Comment by SpfdNewb Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:26 pm
===On the Fairgrounds, of course.===

*Only*… On the Fairgrounds, of course.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:27 pm
First, any release is going to be multiple pages. Sounds like there was a dispute and it needed to be resolved. A release is completely routine.

As to the use, how about an extra butter cow next year? I’ve never been to an IL State Fair, but I hear people love their butter cows. Give the people what they want.

Comment by Gooner Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:29 pm
Free Quatros for everyone!

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:30 pm
Give to money to South Illinois residents to see former Alderman Danny Solis at his live appearances at 219 S. Dearborn.

Comment by Steve Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:34 pm
=Open bar at the Black Diamond Harley in Marion=

The perfect blend of wildly politically incorrect and hilarious . . . . .

Comment by Say What? Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:35 pm
Put it back where it came from.

Comment by A guy Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:37 pm
Flood relief for Southern Illinois Residents who lost their homes this year.

Comment by SOIL M Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:46 pm
Chicago Teachers Pension Fund

Comment by City Zen Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:46 pm
from the perspective of “with malice towards none, charity for all”, put it towards maintenance of the POW confederate soldiers cemetery at the Rock Island Arsenal

Comment by depressed in politics Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:51 pm
Rich -
Alternate “”John Brown’s Body” with “The Ballad of 20th Maine” ?? Bigtwich’s 2:01 PM post. https://capitolfax.com/2019/08/26/yeah-it-was-the-shoes-right-stick-with-that-shirley/#comments

Comment by Anyone Remember Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:58 pm
If the Fair makes any money, and if it is at least $7,500, use it to pay medical and dental providers in southern Illinois who have payments due that are greater than 90 days.

Comment by Nanker Phelge Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 3:00 pm
Use it for maintenance on the Illinois Memorial and the Vicksburg National Military Park.

Comment by reelpro Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 3:05 pm
at the Vicksburg National Military Park.

Comment by reelpro Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 3:06 pm
-How about funding a PR push for the John A Logan Museum in Murphysboro

Thank you for the link. Based on the profound and relevant paragraph on the home page, yours would be my nominee for comment of the year:

What pushed him from becoming Abraham Lincoln’s bitter rival to campaigning for Lincoln’s reelection? How does an avid racist and author of Illinois’ Black Laws become an advocate for African American Civil Rights and education? Visit the General John A. Logan Museum and maybe you will better understand why Frederick Douglas said, if a man like Black Jack Logan can have a change of heart then there is hope for everyone

Comment by Earnest Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 3:12 pm
Give it to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

Comment by Leatherneck Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 3:13 pm
From the museum website:

Plaques honoring John A. Logan’s General Order No. 11 issued May 5, 1868 can be found from Boston to Los Angeles. Logan issued this order, also known as his “Memorial Day Order” while Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic. This order established Memorial Day as a national holiday.

Comment by Earnest Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 3:17 pm
donate it to black lives matter movement

Comment by truthteller Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 3:20 pm
A sculpture of split rails at the enterance of the fairgounds adorned with a fitting quote:

“My ancient faith teaches me that ‘all men are created equal;’ and that there can be no moral right in connection with one man’s making a slave of another.”

- Abraham Lincoln, speech in Peoria, Illinois, October 16, 1854

Comment by rail splitter Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 3:26 pm
Donation to ACLU in honor of Confederate Railroad…

Comment by 62468 Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 3:36 pm
s/ I’m kind of with @Honeybear - that was my first thought.

Use the money for a school program called “Illinois: One State, One People” or sthg like that. (not s/)

Honestly, those Eastern Bloc/Illinois Separation folks really need to start answering some questions like “How are you going to fund outstanding pension payments in your new state?” or “How are you going to make up the net +funding you receive from Cook County each year?”

Comment by dbk Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 3:40 pm
Is there a band called “Yankee Railroad” that they can hire for $7,500?

Comment by Marty Meh-lan Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 3:52 pm
Replace all of their loser (stars and bars) flags with winner (U.S.) flags.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 3:55 pm
Give it to the Mike Madigan legal defense fund. Sounds like that thing has been hemorrhaging lately.

Comment by SSL Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 4:08 pm
Training and word search software for state procurement officers to make sure contracts with offensive words like confederate are flagged and never executed.

Comment by justacitizen Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 4:16 pm
This is a funny website.

Comment by Chicken Fried Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 4:19 pm
Donate for the upkeep of the bronze statute of Abe Lincoln at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.

Comment by Bourbon Street Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 4:26 pm
How about a donation to the Daughters of the Confederacy? Any chapters in Illinois, LOL?

Comment by Stuntman Bob's Brother Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 4:32 pm
==After months of being referred to as promoters of hate and racism,==

By whom? The Du Quoin State Fair? Pritzker? I don’t remember anyone from the state saying that, they didn’t like the word Confederate and the flag. Does Danny mean some anonymous person on Twitter?

Anyway a lot of good and imaginative suggestions here.

==This is a funny website.==

The best entertainment around.

Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 4:40 pm
give it to an Illinois group that is working against hate crimes.

Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 5:14 pm
=Give it to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. =

As long as they promise not to use it to buy a hat.

Comment by JoanP Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 5:33 pm
Institute a “Confederate flags for cash” program. Get those Confederate flags off the street.

Comment by Joe M Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 5:39 pm
There are three chapters of the Daughters of the Confederacy in Illinois. One in Chicago, one in Downers Grove and one in Mt. Vernon per their website. Slavery was an abomination, an evil that had to be ended. For that reason, and to secure this country as one nation and not a house divided, the Confederacy had to be vanquished. But there remains a cultural divide in this country and indeed in this State. Not everyone who has some tie with the old Confederacy is a racist or white supremacist. The notion of a Rebel can be as simple as someone who doesn’t conform to the norms of a different segment of society. And it need not be a rejection of equality and racial harmony. No doubt there are racists in Little Egypt but there also a lot of people of good Will who are increasingly made to feel that they are deplorable. We need tolerance and understanding on all sides and not leap to conclusions. Judge not lest ye be judged. Most Southerners didn’t own a slave. Those who nevertheless enlisted in the army did so in response to a perceived invasion of their homes. It’s true the Southern States seceded to preserve the pernicious institution of slavery but most who fought thought they were defending themselves from an aggressor. That they were misguided doesn’t make them evil.

Comment by Absalom Holcombe Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 6:00 pm
Buy school lunches for the poor kids.

Comment by Mama Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 6:01 pm
===That they were misguided doesn’t make them evil===

I would agree. They were soldiers. However, the people living today, with the full benefit of historical hindsight, have no such excuse.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 6:05 pm
- Absalom Holcombe -

I’ll take your words to heart and I vow any living pedestrians alive from 1858 to 1865, I’ll give… how did you say it…

===…tolerance and understanding on all sides…===

But… anyone not alive from 1858 to 1865 should know better and I really have no time for folks so warped in their thinking of the civil war.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 6:15 pm
Hire this guy:

===Even after fights nearly broke out over merchandise sold at the group’s concerts with the flag on it, McCarver continued to wear the T-shirts.

It took last week’s controversy over the Confederate flag following the murder of nine worshipers at an African-American church in Charleston to fully drive home to him how divisive the symbol can be.

“It made a difference to the way I see it,” said McCarver, who in 2013 briefly featured images of the flag in a video for his song, “Redneck Friends Of Mine.”

The Tennessean says that while he had always seen the flag as an expression of Southern history — and rocker rebellion — he will no longer wear it on stage.

“I think that if, and this is a huge if, taking the rebel flag out of our society would stop racism, I am all for it,” said McCarver, who quit as keyboard player for Confederate Railroad several years ago to pursue a solo career. ===

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-shooting-south-carolina-music/for-white-southern-music-a-time-of-soul-searching-over-confederate-flag-idUSKBN0P62IT20150626

Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 6:26 pm
Absalom at 6:00:
Great post, and thanks for the information; I’m surprised about the Daughters having chapters in IL, since it was clearly a Union State during the conflict.

Comment by Stuntman Bob's Brother Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 7:02 pm
Was there an actual lawsuit by or against CR that a Settlement Agreement/Release is even legally necessary?

As for a donation, is there a United Way of Southern Illinois?

Comment by revvedup Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 8:02 pm
Whatever happened to that public housing disaster in Cairo? $7500 is not a lot but it could help some of those residents.

Comment by G'Kar Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 9:19 pm
===That they were misguided doesn’t make them evil.===

Slavery is evil. The institution of slavery is evil.

If you want to maintain that — starting — a preemptive war in order to protect an evil institution isn’t evil, that’s fine, but I don’t find your argument convincing.

And this isn’t revisionism. It was denounced as evil at the time. Several of the various declarations seceding from the United States make specific mention of slavery.

It is naive and foolish to pretend that individual soldiers in the Confederacy didn’t know what they were fighting for and to do so fails to honor and acknowledge the ones that knew what they were fighting for was wrong and deserted and chose not to.

Who do the Germans celebrate from the 2nd World War?

Claus von Stauffenberg. A man who ultimately scarified everything in an effort to right a terrible wrong.

You don’t hear of many folks trying to rehab their grandfather’s or great grandfather’s service in the SS and there’s a reason for that.

Fighting for an evil cause is still fighting for an evil cause.

===However, the people living today, with the full benefit of historical hindsight, have no such excuse.===

If only the South had some heroes on the right side of history they could elevate and celebrate.

Aside from Newton Knight there are literally tens of thousands of them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Unionist

Comment by Candy Dogood Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 11:32 pm
State pension funds need some cash.

Comment by Cornish Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 12:13 am