WILLIAMSBURG -- While the recent appearance of two prominent Confederate battle flags outside a Williamsburg workplace has left some people stunned, CRD Metalworks owner Chris Duval says "it's only a decoration."

"We've been accused of showing hatred to our neighbors, accused of being racists," said Duval, found at the 17 Hyde Hill Road metal shop Friday afternoon. "That's not true. We love our neighbors. And my wife is from South America; from Colombia."

The flags, one a sheet-metal fabrication bolted to the side of the facility, and the other a cloth flag waving in the breeze, were put up about a week ago, said Duval. Also seen on the flagpole Friday were a yellow Gadsen flag proclaiming "Don't Tread on Me" and the three-colored flag of Colombia.

A letter to the editor, already signed by dozens, has been circulating asking Duval to take the flags down. And Keith Harmon Snow, who lives nearby at 6 Hyde Hill Road, is one of several to speak out against the flag display on Facebook:

"To my neighbors who have hoisted a Confederate battle flag up their flagpole and posted another large Confederate battle flag on the side of their business -- you have chosen to make a statement that offends many good people in the world today. The battle flag is a symbol of hatred and injustice that has been flown by white supremacists of the Ku Klux Klan and others, and has most recently been used to enshrine the murder of innocent people worshiping their God in their place of sanctuary. Please take these symbols of hate down, and we can together burn them, and declare our community a place safe for all people."

Duval, for his part, said the "decorations" at his business would not be a big deal if the "PC police" hadn't gotten involved.

The flag issue is apparently not the only conflict between Snow and Duval.

Speaking outside his home Friday, Snow described a long-simmering dispute, stemming back at least five years, when Snow played a prominent role in trying to shut down a shooting range in Williamsburg. Duval and his friends discharge firearms behind the metal shop onto a neighbor's property instead, said Snow.

"There are four houses for sale on this street because of their behavior," said Snow.

Snow is also fighting Duval and CRD Metalworks before the town's zoning board, claiming that Duval has illegally expanded his business into a manufacturing facility. Duval in February told the Daily Hampshire Gazette that his business should not be "held hostage" because certain neighbors do not like him as a person.



Asked if he believes Duval is a racist, Snow said it's possible that Duval "didn't previously know the meaning of the flag." The Confederate flag is a symbol of hate used to enshrine the murder and terrorism of African-Americans, said Snow. "Now that he knows, we hope he will take it down."

Duval and his shop manager Rob Parker said they had been talking about fabricating the flag symbol long before nine African-American church-goers were killed in a Charleston, South Carolina church last month, touching off heated nationwide debate about the flag and its symbolism.

Parker insisted that the Confederate flag is simply a part of hard-working American rural culture. "It's a symbol of redneck pride," he said. "And what I mean by a redneck is someone who straps his boots on every day, seven days a week, and goes to work."

CRD Metalworks, in business since 2005, fabricates Woodbine firewood processors, large machines that can quickly create firewood from 38-foot-long logs that are 24-inches thick, said Parker. The company ships the machines, designed by Duval, all over the world.

"We employ 14 people full-time, pay them good wages and benefits. We run the largest firewood machine facility in the world, right here in Burgy," Parker said. "We do good things for the community."

Snow, for his part, said he just wants the neighborhood to be a "friendly place where everyone feels welcome," and that the flag is inappropriate because "it represents absolute terror to people of color."

On Friday, even as Snow and Duval spoke with reporters, the Confederate flag was lowered for the last time at the South Carolina Capitol as a crowd of hundreds erupted in cheers.

Mary Serreze can be reached at mserreze@gmail.com

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that a shooting range in Williamsburg had been shut down. The shooting range is in fact still active. It also referred to a "letter to the editor" as a "petition." The story has been updated for purposes of accuracy.