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."
to quote Bill Faulkner:
"NOTHING WORSE may be said of a man, than he be named a scalawag & traitor to his native southland."
faulkner was/IS correct.
free dixie,sw
People like SW have bought into the ethnic grievance industry. Like blacks seeking reparations, Mexicans dreaming of an independent Southwest, Irish-Americans giving money to the IRA etc., he believes that because of something that happened to his ancestors, the world (and the USA) owes him something.
He would get along just fine with Jesse Jackson,
I wonder how the many Southern men and women serving in the military would respond to you calling them traitors. Not well, I imagine. I challenge you to say that to the next Marine from Alabama or Texas that you run into.
NOBODY, that i know of in the southland , wants any more than an admission of guilt for the WAR CRIMES & an APOLOGY from the government for those ATROCITIES, committed against our families.
simple DECENCY requires no less than that!
free dixie,sw
btw, one of my proudest possessions is an official WAR DEPARTMENT poster, dated 1942, which features the US FLAG & CSA BATTLEFLAG crossed, with the legend:
"Join the Army and Help the South Win the War."
free dixie,sw
i flew a CSA battleflag & a TEXAS flag from my radio antennas, the whole time i was overseas, during the war in RVN with NOT ONE COMPLAINT from ANYBODY!
btw, did YOU serve your country in COMBAT????
free dixie,sw
Why he's allowed to call names in such a bigoted way around here is a mystery. I guess because he's so dumb, maybe they feel sorry for him.
As he admits in his last post to me. lol
free dixie,sw
You know what's really sad is this guy is a Republican delegate at the state conventions. No wonder Kerry's leading in Virginia with delusional bigots like Stand Watie representing the Republican Party. 'Bout like George Ryan in Illinois, some of our representatives do far more harm than good.
I have not known anybody in the military who is more loyal to, say, Idaho than the USA. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't members of the military take an oath to this country and its Constitution, rather than their state?
free dixie,sw
There are a few cranks around here. I think management lets them stay for the humor value. His insults are the equivalent of a 5 year-old swearing. They're more amusing than offensive.
More troubling is his advocacy of treason and insurrection. At the end of the day, I don't think SW is a loyal American. Nobody takes his kind seriously, though.
Did you know John Kerry served in Vietnam?
during WW2, FDR (upon being told that MANY southern boys had answered the question, "Have you or any of the members of your family ever fought against the United States?", YES,)said that: "HONORABLE service to the CSA was AMERICAN SERVICE & NOT disqualifying." (emphasis, mine.)
free dixie,sw
imVho, he should have been re-called to AD (as he was a comissioned USNR officer at the time), to answer charges that he was DISLOYAL to his compatriots-in-arms, while they were "in the field against a hostile force".
free dixie,sw
The shot was fired in anger against me. lol I guess they weren't really trying to hit me though because it was nearly point blank and I'd be dead if they were really trying to hit me. I got the message though. I had mistakenly tresspassed on a piece of property I thought was abandoned and it wasn't. Imagine my surprise. We used to go haunted house hunting in the middle of the night, boozin and cruisin, you get the picture. This house wasn't haunted, it had a real person in it. You'd never thought it had anyone in it from the outside but it did. Never made that mistake again.
He and his ilk hate this country, hate everyone north of the Mason-Dixon line and hate the values that most of us hold.
At the end of the day, much like their liberal counterparts, they want to see America fail.
We needed infantry to fight the Nazis. FDR was smart enough to not disqualify some rednecks just because they were stuck in the past.
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