October 28, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-summons-us-ambassador-subi-reef-islands-south-china-sea/

China "extremely dissatisfied," as its neighbors thank U.S.
CBS/AP
October 28, 2015

Photograph -- Subi Reef, located in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, is shown in this handout Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative satellite image taken Sept. 3, 2015 and released to Reuters, Oct. 27, 2015.
CSIS/REUTERS
Play VIDEO -- China leaders fuming over U.S. flexing military muscle in South China Sea
Play VIDEO -- Rare look at China's artificial island-building project


BEIJING -- China summoned the American ambassador to protest the U.S. Navy's sailing of a warship close to one of China's artificial islands in the South China Sea, in an act that challenged Chinese sovereignty claims.

China's Foreign Ministry said on its website Wednesday that Executive Vice Minister Zhang Yesui told Max Bacaus that the U.S. had acted in defiance of repeated Chinese objections and had threatened China's sovereignty and security. While offering no details, Zhang said Tuesday's "provocative" maneuver also placed personnel and infrastructure on the island in jeopardy.

China was "extremely dissatisfied and resolutely opposed" to the U.S. actions, the ministry said. The U.S. State Department declined to confirm the Tuesday meeting, or comment on any remarks made on the issue.

China says authorities monitored and warned the destroyer USS Lassen as it entered what China claims as a 12-mile territorial limit around Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands archipelago, a group of reefs, islets, and atolls where the Philippines has competing claims.

The sail-past fits a U.S. policy of pushing back against China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea. U.S. ally the Philippines welcomed the move as a way of helping maintain "a balance of power."

Since 2013, China has accelerated the creation of new outposts by piling sand atop reefs and atolls then adding buildings, ports and airstrips big enough to handle bombers and fighter jets - activities seen as attempting to change the territorial status by altering the geography.

Navy officials had said the sail-past was necessary to assert the U.S. position that China's man-made islands cannot be considered sovereign territory with the right to surrounding territorial waters.

International law permits military vessels the right of "innocent passage" in transiting other country's seas without notification, although China's Foreign Ministry labeled the ship's actions as illegal.

The U.S. says it doesn't take a position on sovereignty over the South China Sea but insists on freedom of navigation and overflight. About 30 percent of global trade passes through the South China Sea, which also has rich fishing grounds and a potential wealth of undersea mineral deposits.

China says it respects the right of navigation but has never specified the exact legal status of its maritime claims. China says virtually all of the South China Sea belongs to it, while Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam claim either parts or all of it.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday the U.S. has a right to freedom of navigation in international waters, and such maneuvers "should not be construed as a threat by anybody." He said the U.S. wants relations with China to continue to deepen.

"The U.S.-China relationship is vitally important and one that we want to see continue to improve and to grow for the benefit of both our countries, not to mention the region," Kirby told reporters in Washington.

Beijing's response closely mirrored its actions in May when a navy dispatcher warned off a U.S. Navy P8-A Poseidon surveillance aircraft as it flew over Fiery Cross Reef, where China has conducted extensive reclamation work.

A Defense Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the Lassen's movements, said the patrol was completed without incident. A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Bill Urban, declined to comment.

Speaking to foreign correspondents in Manila, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said he supported the U.S. naval maneuvers as an assertion of freedom of navigation and as a means to balance power in the region.

"I think expressing support for established norms of international behavior should not be a negative for a country," he said. "I think everybody would welcome a balance of power anywhere in the world."

Without identifying China by name, he said "one regional power" has been making "controversial pronouncements" that must not be left unchallenged.

The Obama administration has long said it will exercise a right to freedom of navigation in any international waters.

"Make no mistake, the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, as we do around the world, and the South China Sea is not and will not be an exception," Defense Secretary Ash Carter said earlier this month.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said China adhered to international law regarding freedom of navigation and flight, but "resolutely opposes the damaging of China's sovereignty and security interests in the name of free navigation and flight."

"China will firmly deal with provocations from other countries," the statement said, adding that China would continue to monitor the air and sea and take further action when necessary.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said such actions by the U.S. might end up spurring further advances in Chinas defense capabilities.

At Tuesday's Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefing, Lu called the U.S. patrol "illegal" and "provocative."

"If we're forced to respond," he said, "we will decide when and how to respond in our own way."

Asked by CBS News correspondent Seth Doane whether that meant a possible military response, Lu said he would "not answer a hypothetical question."

"If any country wishes to disrupt or impede China's reasonable, justifiable and lawful activities on our own territories by playing some little tricks, I would advise these countries to cast off this fantasy," Lu said.

The South China Sea has become an increasingly sore point in relations with the United States, even as President Obama and China's President Xi Jinping have sought to deepen cooperation in other areas.

Despite those tensions, exchanges between the two militaries have continued to expand, with a U.S. Navy delegation paying visits last week to China's sole aircraft carrier and a submarine warfare academy.




“China summoned the American ambassador to protest the U.S. Navy's sailing of a warship close to one of China's artificial islands in the South China Sea, in an act that challenged Chinese sovereignty claims. China's Foreign Ministry said on its website Wednesday that Executive Vice Minister Zhang Yesui told Max Bacaus that the U.S. had acted in defiance of repeated Chinese objections and had threatened China's sovereignty and security. While offering no details, Zhang said Tuesday's "provocative" maneuver also placed personnel and infrastructure on the island in jeopardy. …. China says authorities monitored and warned the destroyer USS Lassen as it entered what China claims as a 12-mile territorial limit around Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands archipelago, a group of reefs, islets, and atolls where the Philippines has competing claims. …. International law permits military vessels the right of "innocent passage" in transiting other country's seas without notification, although China's Foreign Ministry labeled the ship's actions as illegal. …. China says it respects the right of navigation but has never specified the exact legal status of its maritime claims. China says virtually all of the South China Sea belongs to it, while Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam claim either parts or all of it. …. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said such actions by the U.S. might end up spurring further advances in Chinas defense capabilities. …. "If any country wishes to disrupt or impede China's reasonable, justifiable and lawful activities on our own territories by playing some little tricks, I would advise these countries to cast off this fantasy," Lu said. The South China Sea has become an increasingly sore point in relations with the United States, even as President Obama and China's President Xi Jinping have sought to deepen cooperation in other areas.”

Sabre rattling always looks dangerous, but it rarely is in fact. It’s a basic part of diplomatic relations. Everybody has to “save face,” after all.





COPS IN THE SCHOOLS – A SOLUTION OR A PROBLEM?


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/department-of-justice-civil-rights-probe-violent-south-carolina-classroom-arrest/

DOJ opens civil rights probe into S.C. classroom arrest
CBS/AP
October 27, 2015

Play VIDEO -- Officer banned from S.C. school after violent arrest of student
Photograph -- deputyfields-2.jpg -- Deputy Ben Fields has been put on administrative duty pending an investigation.
Play VIDEO -- Violent arrest of S.C. student in classroom raises questions
Play VIDEO -- Texas cop grabs 14-year-old's throat, slams him


COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Department of Justice announced Tuesday it had launched an investigation into possible civil rights violations during a violent arrest in a South Carolina classroom that was caught on video and his since gone viral.

In a statement, the FBI field office in South Carolina said they "will collect all available facts and evidence in order to determine whether a federal law was violated."

The school resource officer involved in the incident, Ben Fields, was placed on leave after his boss asked the feds to investigate the incident in which he flipped a black female high school student from her desk to the floor and either dragged or tossed her across a classroom.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said by telephone Tuesday: "It's very disturbing what happened today. It's something I have to deal with and that's what we're going to be doing."

No one was hurt in Monday's confrontation, which authorities and some witnesses said happened after the disruptive student refused the officer's order to leave the classroom. The incident was captured on cellphones by several students, one of whom, Tony Robinson Jr., told CBS affiliate WLTX in Columbia it all started when the girl pulled out her cellphone and refused her math teacher's attempt to take it away during class.

CBS News' Omar Villafranca reports the confrontation started just after 10:30 a.m. when the female student repeatedly refused requests by her teacher and assistant principal to put away her cellphone during class.

That's when the administrator called in Deputy Fields.

Aaron Johnson, 15, was sitting a few desks away. "It seemed really violent. It was really, really hard to watch."

During the moments captured on video and posted online, Fields can be seen standing over the girl, asking her to stand up. The girl remains seated and the officer wraps a forearm around her neck. The desk then flips and the girl is slammed backward onto the floor, where the officer tosses her toward the front of the classroom and handcuffs her. A second student who verbally objected to the girl's treatment also was arrested.

Both girls were charged with disturbing schools and released to their parents. Their names were not released, but the second student, Niya Kenny, told WLTX that Deputy Fields' use of force shocked her.

School officials are using terms like "outrageous," ''reprehensible" and "disturbing" to describe the deputy's takedown of the female high school student. The Richland District District Two has asked for an independent state police review.

Richland School District Two Superintendent Dr. Debbie Hamm said during a press conference on Tuesday, that in her 40 years with the district, this was one of the most upsetting incidents she had ever seen.

"This event should not define Richland School District Two," she said.

Jeff Temoney is the principal at Spring Valley High School where the incident occurred. He said when he watched the video it hit him in the gut.

"Our district and our school have zero tolerance for what occurred," he said.

Temoney said he met with the students in that classroom on Tuesday morning. The district said it will be implementing new training as a result of this incident.

Niya Kenny, 18, told CBS affiliate WLTX in Columbia, "I was screaming, 'What the f, what the f is this really happening?' I was praying out loud for the girl. I just couldn't believe this was happening I was just crying and he said, 'Since you have so much to say, you are coming, too.' I just put my hands behind my back."

Kenny was charged with disturbing schools, the station reports.

Her mother, Doris Kenny, asked, "Who was really disturbing schools? Was it my daughter or the officer who came in to the classroom and did that to the young girl?"

Her mother, Doris Kenny, said she's proud her daughter was "brave enough to speak out against what was going on."

Robinson Jr. said the incident made him afraid for his life.

"I've never seen anything so nasty looking, so sick to the point that you know, other students are turning away, don't know what to do, and are just scared for their lives," he said. "That's supposed to be somebody that's going to protect us. Not somebody that we need to be scare off, or afraid."

"That was wrong. There was no justifiable reason for why he did that to that girl," Robinson added.

Robinson claimed Officer Fields escalated the incident unnecessarily. At first, Robinson said he told the girl, "you will move, you will move."

"She said, 'No, I have not done anything wrong," according to Robinson. "Then he said, 'I'm going to treat you fairly.' And she said, 'I don't even know who you are.' And that is where it started right there."

Moments later, things turned physical.

Lt. Curtis Wilson confirmed that Fields is white and the students are black, but told The Associated Press in an email to "keep in mind this is not a race issue."

South Carolina's NAACP president, Lonnie Randolph Jr., denied that, saying "race is indeed a factor."

"To be thrown out of her seat as she was thrown, and dumped on the floor ... I don't ever recall a female student who is not of color (being treated this way). It doesn't affect white students," Randolph said.

After watching the video, Sheriff Lott said, he was left asking, "Why?"

"I shake my head and just say ... I ask why, and that's what I want to know. I want to know why something like that happened," he said.

Officer Ben Fields has been accused of excessive force and racial bias before, but has prevailed in court so far. Trial is set for January in the case of an expelled student who claims Fields targeted black students and falsely accused him of being a gang member in 2013. In another case, a federal jury sided with Fields after a black couple accused him of excessive force and battery during a noise complaint arrest in 2005. A third lawsuit, dismissed in 2009, involved a woman who accused him of battery and violating her rights during a 2006 arrest.

Executive Director of the ACLU of South Carolina Victoria Middleton told CBS News that oversight of police in schools is a question, and called it anything but a "one-off" incident in the state.

"We need to ask questions about how discipline is being enforced in all our schools statewide," Middleton said. "We're really criminalizing childhood behavior."

Districts across the county began placing officers in schools after two teenagers massacred their fellow students at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999.

Experts say lines have blurred since then, as administrators summon in-house police officers to implement routine discipline.

Police are "trained to fight criminals," said John Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties and human rights organization. "Kids are not criminals, by the way. When they won't get up, when they won't put up the phone, they're silly, disobedient kids - not criminals."

Police officers should be posted at entrances to "stop the crazies from getting in these schools," Whitehead added. "When you have police in the schools, you're going to run into this - having police do what teachers and parents should do."

The incident in South Carolina calls to mind a similar one earlier this month, when a school resource officer in Texas was caught on tape grabbing a 14-year-old boy's throat and slamming him to the ground after the student and another boy were involved in a scuffle in a high school cafeteria.

A cellphone video taken by a third student showed the officer placing his hands around sophomore Gyasi Hughes' neck at Round Rock High School and taking Hughes to the ground.

Hughes, who was suspended for fighting but not charged, told KEYE-TV that the officer also pushed him.

Hughes' friend, Sebastian Vazquez, said the two boys were never actually fighting, and things got more tense when the two school officers showed up. "Both cops got him in the corner, so I pulled my phone out to start recording because that seemed odd," said Vazquez.




“In a statement, the FBI field office in South Carolina said they "will collect all available facts and evidence in order to determine whether a federal law was violated." The school resource officer involved in the incident, Ben Fields, was placed on leave after his boss asked the feds to investigate the incident in which he flipped a black female high school student from her desk to the floor and either dragged or tossed her across a classroom. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said by telephone Tuesday: "It's very disturbing what happened today. It's something I have to deal with and that's what we're going to be doing." …. The incident was captured on cellphones by several students, one of whom, Tony Robinson Jr., told CBS affiliate WLTX in Columbia it all started when the girl pulled out her cellphone and refused her math teacher's attempt to take it away during class. …. The desk then flips and the girl is slammed backward onto the floor, where the officer tosses her toward the front of the classroom and handcuffs her. A second student who verbally objected to the girl's treatment also was arrested. Both girls were charged with disturbing schools and released to their parents. …. Jeff Temoney is the principal at Spring Valley High School where the incident occurred. He said when he watched the video it hit him in the gut. "Our district and our school have zero tolerance for what occurred," he said. Temoney said he met with the students in that classroom on Tuesday morning. The district said it will be implementing new training as a result of this incident. …. "We need to ask questions about how discipline is being enforced in all our schools statewide," Middleton said. "We're really criminalizing childhood behavior." Districts across the county began placing officers in schools after two teenagers massacred their fellow students at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999.

“Robinson claimed Officer Fields escalated the incident unnecessarily. At first, Robinson said he told the girl, "you will move, you will move." "She said, 'No, I have not done anything wrong," according to Robinson. "Then he said, 'I'm going to treat you fairly.' And she said, 'I don't even know who you are.' And that is where it started right there." Moments later, things turned physical.” This really does appear to me to be another incident in which a policeman issues a demand and the recipient refuses or simply fails to obey with no questions asked. In this case she said she doesn’t know who he is. Officers are supposed to identify themselves as a part of their arrest procedure. This officer became angry and used unnecessary force on the girl.

I also question why a policeman was summoned to get the girl out of the class. This simply doesn’t amount to a criminal offense. The scuffle in the Texas cafeteria is more like a crime, though a student witness said it was exaggerated. In my day, and of course there were no policemen in the schools at all back then, the teacher would have either disciplined the student personally or called the principal’s office, where there supposedly was “a paddle” behind his desk waiting to be used. Now, there’s no paddling for any reason. I think if I were the math teacher here I would have summoned HELP from the principal and had school officials usher the girl out. She then would be suspended for maybe a week with a fine levied on her parents for their lack of discipline of the girl, and perhaps a rule would be made that NO CELL PHONES are to be allowed in the classrooms in a letter sent to parents, with a specified punishment of suspension and fines in every case, even before and after class.

Police, to me, should be called in – rather than being a part of the school campus as they now are – only for actual violence, physical bullying, threats or assaults with a weapon, theft, drug use or sales, etc. “Discipline” is not an appropriate role for a police officer. Those things are crimes, and a police action makes sense, as gangs of ruffians should not be allowed to terrorize the good students who are trying to learn something. I would like to see no more police officers there, in the sense of being school staff members, forthwith. It’s overkill, and a very harsh incident like this one particularly is positively harmful to the campus environment. It also does nothing to improve the respect that students have for the teacher. It makes him or her look like “a wimp,” who can’t manage his own classroom.

The article below in this regard does make me feel better, because I feel that there is a great need for officers to be trained in non-violent action and verbal skills as the sheriff has said will be done. That includes not merely when dealing with a female, non-violent teenager, but on the streets when the situation is equally non-threatening to the officer.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/richland-county-senior-deputy-ben-fields-fired-over-violent-sc-classroom-arrest/

Officer fired over violent S.C. classroom arrest
CBS/AP
October 28, 2015

Play VIDEO -- South Carolina teen's classmates describe what led to violent arrest
Play VIDEO -- Lawyer analyzes violent S.C. classroom arrest caught on video


COLUMBIA, S.C. - The South Carolina Sheriff's deputy captured on video forcefully removing a student from class has been fired, the local sheriff said Wednesday, less than a week after the incident at Spring Valley High School first came to the public's attention.

Richland County Senior Deputy Ben Fields was already suspended after videos of him flipping and tossing a black female student across a classroom went viral online.

Fields was told of his firing late Wednesday morning, Sheriff Leon Lott said. Lott said he would not describe the now-former resource officer as remorseful, but he said that Fields was sorry the incident happened and tried to do his job.

"I can tell you what he should not have done: He should not have thrown that student," Lott said during a news conference.

Critics have accused Fields, who is white, of racial bias, something local officials have so far denied, and they say school teachers and administrators and even at least one fellow student have publicly said they support Fields' actions. He had been a school resource officer at Spring Valley High School for seven years, and many there have voiced support for him, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said.

Lott has already asked the FBI to assist in the investigation into the incident, and the Department of Justice has opened a civil rights probe into it.

While Lott said, "the student was being disruptive," his department's review of the incident led to the conclusion that Field's "use of force was unacceptable" and he "did not follow proper training, proper procedure" when he "threw her across the classroom."

Because he did not follow proper procedure, Lott said Field's employment was terminated Wednesday morning.

"Deputy Ben fields did wrong," Lott said. "We're taking responsibility for that. Police officers make mistakes too. They're human."

The attorney for the teen says his client did suffer several injuries during her arrest.

Columbia attorney Todd Rutherford said Wednesday that Fields should have been fired as soon as Lott saw the video recorded by several students at Spring Valley High School in Columbia.

"She now has a cast on her arm, she has neck and back injuries. She has a Band-Aid on her forehead where she suffered rug burn on her forehead," Rutherford said.

Classmates of the student say the confrontation began when a teacher and school administrator repeatedly asked her to put away her cellphone during class.

One student -- who asked that his identity be concealed -- says other kids in the class tried to defuse the situation.

"She was even told by the students to just get up and leave when the administrator came in," the student said.

Fields was then then called to remove the student.

"You're going to come with me or I'm gonna make you," Fields tells the student in the video. "Put you hands behind your back. Give me your hands, give me your hands."

When she didn't get up from her desk, the officer wrapped a forearm around her neck, flipped her and the desk backward onto the floor, tossed her toward the front of the classroom and handcuffed her.

The deputy also arrested a second girl who verbally objected to his actions. Both girls were charged with disturbing schools and released to their parents.

The second student, Niya Kenny, told CBS affiliate WLTX-TV that she felt she had to say something. Doris Kenny said she's proud her daughter was "brave enough to speak out against what was going on."

Lott said the charges against the two students would not be dropped and would be dealt with at a later date. However, he commended the students who recorded the incident, saying he encouraged citizens to record authorities and bring it to his attention if they think something is wrong.

Fields, who also helped coach the Spring Valley football team, has prevailed against accusations of excessive force and racial bias before. Lott said he would not release Fields' personnel file, saying only that some complaints have been filed in the past against him, none of which came from the school district.

Trial is set for January in the case of an expelled student who claims Fields targeted blacks and falsely accused him of being a gang member in 2013. In another case, a federal jury sided with Fields after a black couple accused him of excessive force and battery during a noise complaint arrest in 2005. A third lawsuit, dismissed in 2009, involved a woman who accused him of battery and violating her rights during a 2006 arrest.

Lott said there have been school resource officers in the county ever since he has been sheriff for the last 19 years. He said the deputies have to receive more training and certification.

Many districts across the country put officers in schools after teenagers massacred fellow students at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999. Schools now routinely summon police to discipline students, experts say.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/military-blimp-maryland-fighter-jets-pennsylvania/

Military blimp adrift after flying off base
CBS NEWS
October 28, 2015

Photograph -- A surveillance blimp is seen in a "CBS Evening News" story broadcast Jan. 23, 2014. CBS
Play VIDEO -- U.S. Army uses giant blimp to test air defense


A U.S. military blimp detached from its mooring at an Army base Wednesday, prompting fighter jets to be scrambled to monitor it over Pennsylvania, according to NORAD.

The blimp, known in military parlance as a Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, detached from its mooring at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland at around 12:20 p.m., NORAD said in a statement.

Two F-16 fighter jets from Atlantic City Air National Guard Base were scrambled to monitor the blimp, which was at an altitude of 16,000 feet, NORAD said.

NORAD said it was working with the FAA to ensure air traffic safety.

As CBS News correspondent Chip Reid reported in February, this type of unmanned blimp is nearly as long as a football field.

It is being tested for permanent duty scanning the sky for incoming cruise missiles, Reid reported.

The state-of-the-art radar housed in the bubble underneath the unmanned dirigible has a range of 340 miles -- from Boston to North Carolina.




“The blimp, known in military parlance as a Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, detached from its mooring at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland at around 12:20 p.m., NORAD said in a statement. Two F-16 fighter jets from Atlantic City Air National Guard Base were scrambled to monitor the blimp, which was at an altitude of 16,000 feet, NORAD said. …. It is being tested for permanent duty scanning the sky for incoming cruise missiles, Reid reported. The state-of-the-art radar housed in the bubble underneath the unmanned dirigible has a range of 340 miles -- from Boston to North Carolina.”

I wish the military would have given more information. For instance, what were they planning to do with their jet fighters, shoot it down? This article seems to imply that such a blimp is unable to mount an attack of any kind. Perhaps they were concerned that it might escape from US airspace and be captured by an enemy power??? Also, how did they manage to get it back to its’ tether on the ground and how did it get loose in the first place? Or maybe it was “tethered” by a communication device which was disrupted by something like hacking, because I don’t expect there are any physical ropes extending 16, 000 feet. This story is more than a little embarrassing to our control of our military technology, especially since devices like that are probably best kept secret. This was an exciting story. I wish they had told more of the technology.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/martin-luther-king-jr-tribute-georgia-stone-mountain-controversy-confederate-memorial/

Planned MLK tribute on "Confederate Mount Rushmore" stirs controversy
CBS NEWS
October 23, 2015


There's new controversy over old Southern symbols and how to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

A plan to celebrate King involves building a tribute in the same area where four million people a year tour America's biggest shrine to the Confederacy.

When the Confederate memorial at Stone Mountain Park outside Atlanta was first being carved a century ago, this was home turf for the Ku Klux Klan in its heyday. Today, most of this county's 700,000 residents are black, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann.

Stone Mountain, Georgia's most visited attraction, is the "Confederate Mount Rushmore." Etched into its granite face are likenesses of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis. The three heroes of the Old South stand 90 feet tall and 190 feet wide.

"This memorial honors the 900,000 Confederate soldiers that went off to fight to protect their families, their homes and country," Timothy Pilgrim of the Georgia's Sons of Confederate Veterans said.

Georgia is planning to put a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King on top of Stone Mountain. Specifically, and symbolically, a freedom bell of racial reconciliation, something Dr. King dreamed of in his "I Have a Dream" speech for this Georgia community, among others.

"Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia," King said in 1963.

Opposition was instant. Georgia law mandates this park be maintained as a Confederate memorial.

"To put a monument on top of a existing monument is unlawful, disrespectful and inappropriate," Pilgrim said.

The Confederate crowd found unusual allies: the local NAACP was also opposed, along with Charles Steele, Jr.

"It's something that was a dark past of our history, and it needs to be buried in history," Steele said.

Steele leads the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the civil rights group Dr. King co-founded.

"We want to eradicate it. We want to blast it. We want to paint over it. Whatever it takes, that's what we want to do," Steele said.

Here's the twist: many surviving members of King's inner circle support installing the bell. One of them is Georgia Congressman John Lewis.

"The mountain belonged to the people of this state and the people of this nation. Why not?" Lewis said.

In his legendary speech, King said: "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope."

Stone Mountain remains a symbol for both, depending who you talk to.

The freedom bell proposal needs one more vote by the authority board, which should happen by the end of the year. Georgia's governor has approved the idea. Confederate flag groups plan another rally here next month.




“When the Confederate memorial at Stone Mountain Park outside Atlanta was first being carved a century ago, this was home turf for the Ku Klux Klan in its heyday. Today, most of this county's 700,000 residents are black, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann. Stone Mountain, Georgia's most visited attraction, is the "Confederate Mount Rushmore." Etched into its granite face are likenesses of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis. The three heroes of the Old South stand 90 feet tall and 190 feet wide. …. The Confederate crowd found unusual allies: the local NAACP was also opposed, along with Charles Steele, Jr. "It's something that was a dark past of our history, and it needs to be buried in history," Steele said. Steele leads the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the civil rights group Dr. King co-founded. "We want to eradicate it. We want to blast it. We want to paint over it. Whatever it takes, that's what we want to do," Steele said. …. The freedom bell proposal needs one more vote by the authority board, which should happen by the end of the year. Georgia's governor has approved the idea. Confederate flag groups plan another rally here next month.”

“It’s MY history!” It’s everybody’s history, and it isn’t exactly a glorious one. Similar little confederate landmarks dot the South on courthouse squares, street corners, college campuses, and more. Many of them have been removed in the last few years, and I personally don’t miss them. I’m proud of the South for being the beautiful place it is, but not its’ racial relations or the KKK. I wouldn’t demand that all those statues of Jefferson Davis be pulled down, but it does seem appropriate to me that a statue of Martin Luther King might well be placed next to them.