Cd'A Chamber 'regrets' local company's Fourth of July parade entry Owner dismisses concerns his float's imagery was racist

By CRAIG NORTHRUP

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — An entry in the Fourth of July parade has sparked anger and salted old wounds in what’s being decried as a blatant display of racism in Coeur d’Alene’s otherwise wholesome annual tradition.

Dixie Services, a Post Falls company that does excavation and landscaping work, came under fire for its entry in this year’s parade. Dixie owner Jim Valentine entered two vehicles representing his company through what he described as a “Southern truck-farming theme.” The lead car was a replica of the General Lee, the iconic 1969 Dodge Charger from the TV series “The Dukes of Hazzard,” which aired from 1979 to 1985.

“Ours was actually a Crown Vic,” Valentine said. “We took the Ford panels off of it, and we built ourselves a General Lee over the winter.”

The Valentine version, like the original General Lee, has a horn that plays “Dixie,” and its roof is emblazoned with a Confederate flag. The flag continues to be a national lightning rod, seen by some as a symbol of racial divides that have plagued the country since before the Civil War.

The television channel TV Land dropped “The Dukes of Hazzard” from its lineup in 2015, citing its display of the flag in each of the show’s 147 episodes. That decision came two weeks after white supremacist and Confederate sympathizer Dylann Roof walked into a Charleston, S.C., church, produced a gun and murdered nine black congregants. Roof was convicted in federal court and is awaiting execution in Indiana. On the day of his capture, Roof confessed he attacked the church, in part, to start a race war.

Calls to erase symbols of Southern secession prompted communities to tear down monuments of Confederate leaders and remove Confederate flags from state capitols. Two years of contentious national debate would once again explode into violence, this time in Charlottesville, Va.

White supremacists marched in Charlottesville’s Unite The Right rally on Aug. 11 and 12, 2017 — Confederate flags and torches in hand — to protest the removal of the statue of Robert E. Lee from a local park. Counterprotesters clashed with the white supremacists until Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency on Aug. 12, effectively ending the march. A Unite The Right attendee named James Fields Jr. — a white supremacist purported to all but have grown up wrapped in the Confederate flag — plowed his Dodge into a crowd of retreating counter-protesters, injuring 28 and killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. Fields was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison plus 419 years.

To Valentine, the Confederate flag is a symbol that sidesteps the idea of racism because it predates American slavery.

“It’s really St. Andrew’s Cross,” he said. “It’s the flag of Scotland, really. Nothing more. Later on, the Confederacy used it in their flag to tell you to watch out for the Union Army.”

The flag of Scotland, also known as St. Andrew’s Cross — a heraldic device referred to as the Saltire — is a pair of white stripes diagonally crossing a light blue background. The pattern is the same as the Confederate flag (which is technically the Confederate battle flag).

‘Immediately stunned’

To some, however, the Confederate flag across the top of Valentine’s General Lee was hardly the only concern.

“I live just down from Sherman,” Matt Petersen remembered about his July 4 experience. “My family, my in-laws, they had met us here, and we all walked down to the parade route with our children to watch.

“Pretty much everybody who saw it was immediately stunned by it. Of course, it was a topic of conversation as we were walking home. I was just in disbelief you would see something like that in public, let alone in public celebration.”

“It” was Valentine’s second vehicle in the parade down Sherman Avenue. Just behind the General Lee was a dump truck from Dixie Services’ fleet. It had a Confederate flag fastened to the grill, along with a cartoon drawing of a smiling black child holding a watermelon to match watermelon imagery affixed to the rear of the truck.

“Immediately when I got home I sent an email to the Chamber [of Commerce, which organized the event], looking for perspective or some kind of explanation,” Petersen said. “I assumed, with these parades, there would be some kind of vetting. But the Chamber did not respond to me. They’re responsible for the content of the parade, and it reflects on them how they promote the character of the city.”

Petersen later wrote a letter to the editor, which was published in the July 21 edition of The Press, in which he stated his disdain for Valentine’s message.

‘Nothing to get upset about’

Valentine objects.

“There’s nothing racist about it,” Valentine said, “just like there was nothing racist about [‘The Dukes of Hazzard’]. This is just part of our business. It’s all just part of history, part of our past. As far as slavery goes, there’s no slaves anymore, so there’s nothing to get upset about.”

Tony Stewart, founder and secretary of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, said Valentine’s explanation didn’t hold water.

“When you find that type of message, you have to call it what it is. It’s racism,” Stewart said. “Any time you demean another race or minority or community, any time you degrade them, it meets the definition of racism.”

The caricature of the black child depicted on Valentine’s trucks — and throughout his business — is an image that dates to the 1920s, when the Hendler Creamery Co. used the depiction to sell its “Picaninny Freeze.”

The word “pickaninny” refers to a black child and traces its origins to the 17th century. The fifth edition of Webster’s New World College Dictionary calls it an offensive term of contempt.

Valentine said he didn’t remember how long he’d had the images on his trucks, but he acknowledged a brief, failed 2017 social media campaign aimed at shaming him into removing the signs.

“[The sign is] something that reminds a lot of people of a happier time,” he said. “I know a lot of people say slavery was a terrible time for Africans, and I’m sure it was for some. But there were good times. There were good masters. There were happy Africans.”

A ‘happier time’

Petersen rejects Valentine’s view.

“[Valentine] deflects by saying, ‘It reminds me of a happier time,’” Petersen said, adding that he has never met Valentine. “That’s classic, standard cover a racist will use to have their dog whistles without having to own up to the fact he obviously does not think blacks are equals.”

Stewart agreed with Petersen.

“I’ve heard from a number of residents who were very upset,” Stewart said. “What I thought was so offensive was portraying and stereotyping young African-American youth in such a prejudiced and bigoted way. I was hoping we had passed that time when individuals would be so demeaning against minorities in our society. It’s just very, very sad.”

Stewart echoed the sentiment Petersen expressed in his July 21 letter, questioning how inclusive Coeur d’Alene makes its newcomers and visitors feel.

“It’s a huge parade,” Stewart said. “We have many visitors coming in from out of town, and it’s a very diverse audience. What was so sad for me was, a number of people attending from minority communities did see that [truck]. It must have been very painful for them to watch.”

When asked what he imagines a person of color might say in response to the sight of his parade entry, Valentine said he would proactively encourage a minority to remain focused.

“I’d tell an African,” he began, “heck, I go up to Africans all the time, and I tell them: Watch out for the race-baiters. Watch out for the CNNers. Watch out for the Deep State people, the central government people. Watch out for people who are against the South and against Christian ideals. Watch out for the social cleansing of the left and the people who want to take down our statues.”

Valentine said he did not regret his parade entry. He considers people easily offended.

“You can go into church or dress up in a suit or do something else that offends people,” he said. “So what? And why should anybody be offended? It’s so hard to talk about it, because there are some blacks out there, but if you’re a minority or an African, this is the country you live in. [With] the freedoms we have and the progress we made, this is a great country.”

The country — or, at least, the Coeur d’Alene business community — is reconsidering Valentine’s participation in future parades. After a flood of calls and complaints into the Chamber of Commerce, president Steve Wilson said he and other city leaders were evaluating options to curtail potentially offensive parade entries.

The Chamber responds

On Friday, Wilson gave a written statement to The Press on behalf of the Chamber:

“The Fourth of July parade is the responsibility of the Chamber of Commerce. This year there were over 90 parade entries. Unfortunately one parade entry exhibited graphic displays that are totally inconsistent with the values of the Chamber or the celebratory intent of our parade. The Chamber, its sponsors and many volunteers strive to put on a family-oriented event respective of the key values of human dignity, inclusiveness, respect, integrity and equality. We regret that we did not catch this display prior to the start of the parade. We are taking steps that will hopefully prevent such public displays in the future.”

Valentine expressed disappointment at the Chamber’s reaction.

“If the Chamber doesn’t like somebody, what are we supposed to do?” he asked. “Just roll over or something? There’s this old image of racism here, this image if you move to Idaho we’re going to burn crosses on your yard. There’s this fear that people bow down to. There’s no racism here. Our claim to fame here in Idaho is sticking to our guns. We appreciate being able to take part in the parade and being part of the community. I just hope Idaho doesn’t fold or become a hostage to the left.

“It’s too bad,” he continued. “Just one or two people has a problem, and it causes all this. I hope the Chamber of Commerce does some thinking on this.”

While Petersen denounced the message Valentine sent on July 4, he defended the Post Falls businessman’s right to voice it.

“He clearly has the right to do this,” Petersen said, “and I absolutely support his right to spout his repugnant views. I think people like him live everywhere. The fact that it went unnoticed, or that The Press didn’t get a big reaction [from locals] is troubling. Good people live here, and we’ve dealt with this before. Coeur d’Alene has a history of white supremacist parades, and those people were shown they were not welcome.”

“So many good citizens have worked so long to eradicate bigotry here,” Stewart said, “going back to the ‘70s and the arrival of the Aryan Nations. It’s important for our residents to speak out when they see this kind of bigotry, discrimination, and prejudice.”