Flags Raise A Stir

A number of residents who stationed themselves around East Hampton Village to watch the Santa parade Saturday morning were wondering this week why two trucks in the procession were bearing Confederate flags.

Though some said they were upset at seeing the symbol, which is often linked to white supremacist and militant groups, the driver of one of the two trucks, Alex Danyluk Jr. of East Hampton, said that was not his intention. The second driver could not be identified by press time.

Complaints about the flags to the East Hampton Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the parade each year, may result in a new guideline for parade participants in future years.

Surprised

Marina Van, the executive director of the Chamber, and William Ritter, a member of the Chamber's board of directors who serves as the parade chairman, both said they received several complaints about the flags. The flags "absolutely surprised" Chamber members, Ms. Van said.

In the rush of getting the parade procession going, Mr. Ritter said this week that "I didn't notice the flag go by or I would have had it removed."

"I have to apologize to everyone for that. . . . It was not sanctioned by the Chamber of Commerce," Mr. Ritter added.

Asked whether the Chamber might prevent participants from marching in future parades if they display something objectionable, Mr. Ritter said that may be the case. "We've never been confronted with it before," he added.

Negative Connotations

"We encourage flags be put on the trucks and tractors, but the American flag," Mr. Ritter said, adding that he understood the Confederate flag has negative connotations of white supremacy, which neither he nor the Chamber condones. In the future, he said he would prefer to see only American flags or organization flags and banners, such as for the Boy Scouts or Kiwanis, used in the parade.

The 25 or so tractors and trucks that joined the parade's procession were organized by Mr. Danyluk, as they have been for the past several years. He was driving a Bistrian Sanand Gravel truck for "me as an individual" and not on behalf of the local company, Mr. Danyluk said. He works for the company.

"The Dukes Of Hazzard"

He stressed repeatedly this week that there was "no message, no intention" behind the Confederate flags, and that it was "not at all" a white supremacist statement. Many trucks and rigs, he said, drive around bearing Confederate flags.

Rather, he said, kids, like his college-aged daughter and high school-aged son as well as younger children, like watching an old TV show called "The Dukes of Hazzard," in which a pair of Southern brothers drive a car that bears a Confederate flag. There's even a Web site for the show, he said.

"The thing that puzzles me is," Mr. Danyluk added, "these kids that go to school, they're not concerned with prejudice, they go to school with kids of all colors. . . . People are not born with prejudice, people learn prejudice."

No Message Intended

"There was absolutely no message, other than kids think it's cool. And as far as I'm concerned, kids count."

"My head's spinning," Mr. Danyluk added. "Why is this such a big deal over nothing?"

"I just hope this doesn't get blown out of shape."

John F. Beuscher, a Bridgehampton resident who is a teaching assistant at the Amagansett School, was standing in front of the Ralph Lauren store on Main Street Saturday when he noticed the flags. "I thought 'Oh my God, there are some white supremacists looking for new members.' "

For many people the sight of the flags "really didn't sink in," Mr. Beuscher said. When he asked people around him, "Is that a Confederate flag?" he added, some responded "What's that?"

"Totally Offended"

"I'm totally offended," Mr. Beuscher said. "I've had that flag thrown in my face before," he added, while living in Boston, "because I had black friends." He called the Confederate flag "an American swastika. It's St. Andrew's cross turned the other way."

"If they didn't know what it meant, they need to be told," Mr. Beuscher said of the two drivers.

In a letter to the editor in today's Star, Fiona Bennett of Amagansett wondered, "Was there some subtle Christmas message or wish that I missed when the Bistrian gravel truck drove in the village Santa parade decorated with only the Confederate flag?"

Duplicate Santas A Problem

Mr. Danyluk said he did not know who was driving the second truck, which had a small Confederate flag on its antenna, and The Star's attempts to locate the driver were unsuccessful. Mr. Danyluk did say that the other driver was with the Antique Power Association of the North Fork, which brings old tractors to the parade.

Though the parade was the biggest in memory, perhaps ever, and "the best parade" to Chamber members, Ms. Van and Mr. Ritter reported two other problems this year. The Chamber's two guidelines - that marchers and floats not throw candy and that there be no Santas to duplicate the Chamber's, who brings up the rear of the parade - were both violated.

She got more complaints about the candy than the flags, Ms. Van said, from parents concerned that children might get hit in the head. She also got several complaints about the two Santas - one was the Chamber's and the other was on a float - which could confuse the children.