Ed Sebesta is a researcher and self-styled anti-neo-Confederate activist. He has written for a variety of publications, spoken in person, and been quoted as an "expert" on the movement by several media sources, particularly on the political left such as Pacifica Radio and Salon.com. His Temple of Democracy group is based in Dallas, Texas. Another fact that he is homosexual and his lover is african american.

Sebesta's political activism include campaigns to remove historical monuments and statues featuring Confederate generals as well as buildings and parks named after Confederate and southern historical figures. His organization advocates removing street signs from U.S Highway 1, named the Jefferson Davis Highway, as well as dozens of lesser known streets. Sebesta advocates boycotts of companies he deems friendly to "confederate" causes including Tommy Hilfiger, which he accuses of secretly incorporating confederate insignia into their clothing lines. He has also called for cutting federal cemetary maintenance of confederate soldier tombstones.

Sebesta often expresses contempt towards the southern United States and refers collectively to them as the "Former Majority Slave States," though this term is ahistorical as slaves constituted a majority of the population in only a small number of southern states. He also identifies alleged "neo-confederates" with many modern political movements. Sebesta has written articles accusing "neo-confederates" of attempting to infiltrate the environmentalism movement and writes that "homophobia is integral to the Neo-Confederacy."[1]

Sebesta is a controversial figure on the Usenet, where he frequently posts news releases from his organization. Critics there charge that Sebesta makes abusive allegations of "neo-confederate" or "racist" sympathies (see race baiting).

He has also accused NASCAR of being in the Neo-Confederate plot.

Sebesta has alleged that the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans, genealogical associations for descendants of American Civil War soldiers, have white supremacist agendas. The UDC describes Sebesta as a "hater of all things confederate" and describes his charges as abusive and slanderous.[2]

Sebesta has accused many politicians of supporting or aligning with what he describes as "neo-confederate" organizations and movements. He has criticized them on account of speeches or public proclamations given for Confederate history state holidays, fundraising offers to groups he deems "neo-confederate," and interviews in the magazine Southern Partisan . The list includes:

• George W. Bush - President of the United States
• Bill Clinton - former President of the United States
• John Ashcroft - former United States Attorney General
• Rick Perry - Governor of Texas
• Roy Barnes - former Governor of Georgia
• Lindsay Graham - U.S. Senator from South Carolina
• Trent Lott - U.S. Senator from Mississippi
• Phil Gramm - former U.S. Senator from Texas
• Ron Kirk - former mayor of Dallas, Texas, an African American, on account of declaring "Texas Confederate History Day" and attending a speech.

Sebesta has criticized a number of writers and commentators for what he considers to be a neo-confederate viewpoint in their statements. The list includes:

• Pat Buchanan - conservative political commentator
• Russell Kirk - American political philosopher
• Frank Vandiver - Civil War historian
• Shelby Foote - Civil War historian
• Eugene D. Genovese - Southern historian
• Richard M. Weaver - American political philosopher

External links

• Web Archive of Temple of Democracy
• Democracy Now!:"George W. Bush and the Confederacy: Where Does He Stand?" November 3 1999, with Civil War historian James M. McPherson
• Salon.com: "Ashcroft whistles Dixie" January 3, 2001
• Letter from League of the South]