Whereas, there is no more appropriate location for the display of Confederate flags than above the graves of Confederate soldiers and veterans and

Whereas, within Elmwood Cemetery in Charlotte, North Carolina, there is an area that approximately one hundred years ago was specifically and legally designated as a section reserved for the burial of Confederate soldiers and Confederate veterans and

Whereas, the Confederate graveyard within Elmwood Cemetery is enclosed within and set off by a physical barrier in the form of a wrought iron fence that distinguishes and separates the Confederate soldiers section from the rest of Elmwood Cemetery and

Whereas, without incident or public objection for more than fifty years, this section was marked with a Confederate flag on a pole of approximately twenty-five feet in height and

Whereas, on or about March 15, 2005, said flag pole was removed from Elmwood Cemeterys Confederate section at the direction and personal preference of one person (the city manager) against the expressed wishes of the local historic community and the stated preference of the people of Charlotte Mecklenburg as solicited and recorded by the Community Relations Committee, therefore

We, the undersigned residents of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area, and/or the decedents of Confederate soldiers and veterans, and/or members of the local history and heritage community (including but not limited to the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Robert E. Lee Confederate History Association, various veterans associations, Civil Roundtables, the living history and reenactment community) and/or the responsible, non-political Confederate history and heritage community at large, do hereby respectfully petition the City Council of Charlotte, North Carolina, and request that the City Council take all necessary steps to allow the restoration of the flag pole and Confederate flag to the Confederate section of Elmwood Cemetery.