Posted on 02/25/2004 11:52:26 AM PST by 4CJ
THOMASVILLE -- Nelson Winbush knows his voice isn't likely to be heard above the crowd that writes American history books. That doesn't keep him from speaking his mind, however.
A 75-year-old black man whose grandfather proudly fought in the gray uniform of the South during the Civil War, Winbush addressed a group of about 40 at the Thomas County Museum of History Sunday afternoon. To say the least, his perspective of the war differs greatly from what is taught in America's classrooms today.
"People have manufactured a lot of mistruths about why the war took place," he said. "It wasn't about slavery. It was about state's rights and tariffs."
Many of Winbush's words were reserved for the Confederate battle flag, which still swirls amid controversy more than 150 years after it originally flew.
"This flag has been lied about more than any flag in the world," Winbush said. "People see it and they don't really know what the hell they are looking at."
About midway through his 90-minute presentation, Winbush's comments were issued with extra force.
"This flag is the one that draped my grandfathers' coffin," he said while clutching it strongly in his left hand. "I would shudder to think what would happen if somebody tried to do something to this particular flag."
Winbush, a retired in educator and Korean War veteran who resides in Kissimmee, Fla., said the Confederate battle flag has been hijacked by racist groups, prompting unwarranted criticism from its detractors.
"This flag had nothing to with the (Ku Klux) klan or skinheads," he said while wearing a necktie that featured the Confederate emblem. "They weren't even heard of then. It was just a guide to follow in battle.
"That's all it ever was."
Winbush said Confederate soldiers started using the flag with the St. Andrews cross because its original flag closely resembled the U.S. flag. The first Confederate flag's blue patch in an upper corner and its alternating red and white stripes caused confusion on the battlefield, he said.
"Neither side (of the debate) knows what the flag represents," Winbush said. "It's dumb and dumber. You can turn it around, but it's still two dumb bunches.
"If you learn anything else today, don't be dumb."
Winbush learned about the Civil War at the knee of Louis Napoleon Nelson, who joined his master and one of his master's sons in battle voluntarily when he was 14. Nelson saw combat at Lookout Mountain, Bryson's Crossroads, Shiloh and Vicksburg.
"At Shiloh, my grandfather served as a chaplain even though he couldn't read or write," said Winbush, who bolstered his points with photos, letters and newspapers that used to belong to his grandfather. "I've never heard of a black Yankee holding such an office, so that makes him a little different."
Winbush said his grandfather, who also served as a "scavenger," never had any qualms about fighting for the South. He had plenty of chances to make a break for freedom, but never did. He attended 39 Confederate reunions, the final one in 1934. A Sons of Confederate Veterans Chapter in Tennessee is named after him.
"People ask why a black person would fight for the Confederacy. (It was) for the same damned reason a white Southerner did," Winbush explained.
Winbush said Southern blacks and whites often lived together as extended families., adding slaves and slave owners were outraged when Union forces raided their homes. He said history books rarely make mention of this.
"When the master and his older sons went to war, who did he leave his families with?" asked Winbush, who grandfather remained with his former owners 12 years after the hostilities ended. "It was with the slaves. Were his (family members) mistreated? Hell, no!
"They were protected."
Winbush said more than 90,000 blacks, some of them free, fought for the Confederacy. He has said in the past that he would have fought by his grandfather's side in the 7th Tennessee Cavalry led by Gen. Nathan Bedford Forest.
After his presentation, Winbush opened the floor for questions. Two black women, including Jule Anderson of the Thomas County Historical Society Board of Directors, told him the Confederate battle flag made them uncomfortable.
Winbush, who said he started speaking out about the Civil War in 1992 after growing weary of what he dubbed "political correctness," was also challenged about his opinions.
"I have difficulty in trying to apply today's standards with what happened 150 years ago," he said to Anderson's tearful comments. "...That's what a lot of people are attempting to do. I'm just presenting facts, not as I read from some book where somebody thought that they understood. This came straight from the horse's mouth, and I refute anybody to deny that."
Thomas County Historical Society Board member and SVC member Chip Bragg moved in to close the session after it took a political turn when a white audience member voiced disapproval of the use of Confederate symbols on the state flag. Georgia voters are set to go to the polls a week from today to pick a flag to replace the 1956 version, which featured the St. Andrew's cross prominently.
"Those of us who are serious about our Confederate heritage are very unhappy with the trivialization of Confederate symbols and their misuse," he said. "Part of what we are trying to do is correct this misunderstanding."
free the southland,sw
You're rambling. We live in a country where people are free to move wherever they want. Furthermore, every citizen is obligated to pay his share of taxes.
In any event, the Red states are the ones who get more money from the feds than they pay in. It's the Blue states that pay more than they get back, so your complaint about having to pay for what goes on in other parts of the country is not based in reality.
Whatever. Every generation, less people care. Does anyone in this country harbor ill will towards the British for whatever atrocities were comitted during the Revolutionary War? Of course not.
Eventually, even your descendents won't give a rat's ass about some atrocities committed centuries ago. If they do, they're no better than Muslims pining away for Al-Andalus.
at every meeting of CSA desendents i attend, the MAIN topics are:
support for prayer in schools
support for religious expression on public property
public financing for "abortion on demand"
"social experiments", dreamed up by northeastern liberals
HIGH taxes
nosey,intrusive federal bureaucrats
etc,etc,etc.
we just want to be LEFT ALONE!
free dixie,sw
they start working for that great day of dixie LIBERTY.
PLEASE keep posting. you ,TOO, serve the TRUE CAUSE!
free dixie,sw
After all, Bill Clinton is from the South, as is John Edwards, Robert Byrd, Jimmy Carter etc.
Man, I feel sorry for you. You're devoting your life to a pointless cause. But, whatever. I guess crackpots can do whatever they want, so long as they don't hurt anyone else.
So go ahead, keeping calling yourself a Southron (rhymes with "moron") and keep dreaming of a day when "Dixie" will be free again. Whatever.
BUT, please keep posting. you too serve the TRUE CAUSE!
free dixie,sw
I could use a good laugh.
all judges should be ELECTED to represent the state they sit in.
free dixie,sw
i'd guess 15-20 years, UNLESS Los Estados Unidos de Azatlan leaves the USA first, then all bets are off.
the establishment of Azatlan MAY be in 10 or LESS years.
free dixie,sw
1 million? 10 million? EVERYBODY in the 3 states/west of the Mississippi River?
imVho, the lincoln thugs would have KILLED EVERYBODY in the CSA/USA to keep the southland under the damnyankee elitists boot & SUBSERVIANT, permanently.
free dixie,sw
As many as it takes. How about you?
You're exactly right. I think I might spend the rest of my life whining about what the Vikings did to my English ancestors. Eric the Red was a Tyrant!!!!! LOL
Modernman is from Virginia, stupid.
there's just too much lib/yankee/SA in his postings.(we raise our kids better than that.)
free dixie,sw
free dixie,sw
Looking at Bill Clinton, I see what you mean. LOL
that he is a dopefiend (with a nose like a vacuum cleaner),
that he is a serial adulterer,
that he has always taken bribes.
that he is a CROOK of the first rank,
that he likes LITTLE boys/girls,
that he's a hypocrite,
that he is a LIB &
married to "the blonde witch project",etc,etc,etc,
NOBODY ever accused him of being STUPID and/or NOT being a southerner (NOT even me and i've known him since college days in the summer of '66. he is NOT a friend of mine!), with a certain amount of "trailer trash charm".
if i HAD to make a choice between the two camps (and there were NO OTHER CHOICES), i'd take wee willie/jimmy carter/lbj over dukakis,mondale,albore,schumer,frank,ANY of the kennedys,etc. & PARTICULIARLY,the TRAITOR HANOI-John.
free dixie,sw
My family's from Florida. Unlike you and other people who live in this country, I count myself as an American first.
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