ANDRIA HALL, CNN ANCHOR: In Birmingham, Alabama, about 1,500 marchers rallied to demand respect for what they call their cultural rights. CNN's Aram Roston has the story.</s>ARAM ROSTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To the tune of "Bonnie Blue Flag," more than a thousand people paraded to the Alabama state capitol in a sea of Confederate flags.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dear God, we ask you, save the south, and this we ask in Jesus' name.</s>ROSTON: Some men dressed in Confederate uniforms, some women came dressed as ladies of the south. The rally was organized by a group called The League of the South in order, it says, to sign a declaration of southern culture.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We consider our heritage a sublime and unmerited blessing, and we cherish it. Today, it is threatened as never before by the Godless national culture of death.</s>ROSTON: For the NAACP and many African-Americans, the confederate flag is a clear symbol of the legacy of slavery, segregation and racism. In South Carolina, the NAACP called for a tourism boycott because the flag flew over the state capitol building. In Alabama, the flag has not flown over the capitol since 1993, and there is talk at this rally about another cession, about political independence for the south. Most people don't go that far.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That can't possibly happen, you know that. That's just things people say to, you know, I guess kind of hype people up.</s>ROSTON: The rally comes the same weekend as the reenactment of the historic Civil Rights march of 1965 in Selma, an hour away. Thirty-five years ago there, a brutal crackdown on marchers spurred the passage of landmark civil rights legislation. (on camera): This demonstration in Montgomery is a very clear reminder that the south has two very different histories. Aram Roston, CNN, Montgomery, Alabama.
Marchers Rally at Alabama's Capital to Demand Respect for Cultural Rights