Confederate flag salute in program upsets parents

Parents of some students at Avery Trace Middle School in Cookeville are upset because a history program by re-enactors included a salute to the Confederate flag.

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — A program presented by a local camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans last Friday at Avery Trace Middle School has angered parents because students were asked to stand and listen to a recitation of a salute to the Confederate flag.

''My son told me something happened at school. I couldn't have imagined it would be anything like this,'' said Diane Paul, whose son attends the school. She asked that his name not be disclosed.

Paul also said the speakers promoted ''revisionist attitudes'' of the Civil War, particularly in regard to slavery.

The program by members of the Dillard-Judd Camp 1828 was similar to one they had presented last year for seventh- and eighth-grade American history classes at the middle school. The members, many of whom are active Civil War re-enactors, came dressed in period Confederate costumes to show the students what life was like during the 1860s.

According to Alma Anderson, the history teacher who organized the event, having the members come to the school offered a chance to ''make history come alive'' for her students.

Anderson said Friday's program began with the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag, for which students were asked to stand. Afterward, the teacher said, her eighth-graders were asked to remain standing for a salute to the Confederate flag.

''They explained they were going to salute not the Confederate States of America but to salute the thought of the folks who served in the Confederacy,'' Anderson said, adding that students were not required to salute. Neither were they provided the words of the salute.

''They were just to stand respectfully. You're not pledging. You're not saying anything. You're just standing there with respect,'' she said.

Diane Paul, however, said the re-enactors went too far when they asked her son to remain standing in honor of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. ''He knew it felt wrong, but he was there with his whole class, all these kids. No one wants to say anything,'' Paul said.

Anderson said no student or parent has complained to her about the program. She said that after the program, her students had a question-and-answer session with the group members. There were no questions about the salute, she said.

''If somebody had been upset, surely they could have come to me,'' Anderson added.

In contrast, she said, one parent thanked her for making the Civil War so interesting to her child.

In addition, Anderson said, Director of Schools Michael Martin attended the presentation. Martin could not be reached for comment.

Paul said she was troubled by ''revisionist attitudes'' of the Civil War that she said were promoted by the members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

''My son was told that a lot of black slaves liked their masters very much and that many blacks wore the Gray. There's a grain of truth there, but there were reasons why they were true. The whole answer wasn't given.

''What answers were given were distorted, and it's the distortion that disturbs me,'' the Cookeville mother said.

Reavis Mitchell, chairman of the Fisk University History Department, said a few blacks did own slaves, as well as members of the Pequot Native American tribe in New England.

''Anyone who could buy slaves owned them, but the predominate owners were white,'' Mitchell said. ''However, most Southerners didn't own slaves because slaves were very expensive. What people don't understand is that slavery kept most people poor. However, their dream was to own them or have their children own them. They've identified with a social and economic quest that the great majority of today's South was not historically a part of.''

She said the group's commander, Ed Butler, pointed out that some people had made the Confederate flag a racist symbol.

''But it is not a symbol of racism for the Dillard-Judd group. He made that very clear. He said there's no way anybody on this stage is going to say to you that slavery and what we did to the blacks were appropriate.''

Allen Sullivant, spokesman for the Sons of Confederate Veterans' national office, which is in Columbia, Tenn., said the school programs are a local initiative aimed at giving students a glimpse into the mindset of a Confederate soldier.

''We try to give historic presentations to schools that are willing to do it,'' said Sullivant, who lives in Brentwood.

Typically, a few members dressed in period uniform bring artifacts and speak about the life of the average Confederate soldier and his motivation to fight.

Sullivant said the presentations emphasize the complexity of issues such as slavery and the Civil War. ''People tend to boil things down, and sometimes they boil it to a point that the truth is taken out of the situation or distorted.''

Anderson said she would have preferred to have had Confederate and Union re-enactors talk to her students, but she said she could not find any Union ''soldiers'' in the Cookeville area.

''If I could find a Union re-enactor, I'd be all over that person like a duck on a June bug.''

Paul said she and several other parents, who would not talk to The Tennessean on the record, would schedule a meeting with Principal Skip Overstreet and Director Martin.

''We want our concerns to be heard. I think there's a need for dialogue on the issue,'' Paul said.

The Civil War is a fact of American history and those who fought on both sides are no less American heroes, despite whose banner they fought under.

"Headquarters Department Trans-Mississippi,Shreveport, La, June 13, 1863 Maj. Gen. R. Taylor Commanding District of Louisiana: GENERAL: In answer to the communication of Brigadier-General Hebert, ofthe 6th instant, asking what disposition should be made of negro slaves taken in arms, I am directed by Lieutenant-General Smith to say no quarter should be shown them. If taken prisoners, however, they should be turned over to the executive authorities of the States in which they may be captured, in obedience to the proclamation of the President of the Confederate States, sections 3 and 4, published to the Army in General Orders, No. 111, Adjutant and Inspector General's Office, series of 1862. Should negroes thus taken be executed by the military authorities capturing them it would certainly provoke retaliation. By turning them over to the civil authorities to be tried by the laws of the state, no exception can be taken.I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, S. S. Anderson" \

"I have the honor to report that I was with the command of Brevet Major- General Burbridge in the attack on Saltville, Va., October 2, 1864, and that I was left with the wounded and was captured October 3, and paroled by Major-General Breckinridge."

"I would state that on Monday morning, October 3, there came to our field hospital several armed men, as I believe soldiers in the Confederate service, and took 5 men, privates, wounded (negroes), and shot them."

"I would further state that on Friday evening, October 7, at Emory and Henry College Hospital, Washington County, Va., to which place our wounded had been removed, several armed men entered the said hospital about 10 p.m. and went up into the rooms occupied by the Federal wounded prisoners, and shot 2 of them (negroes) dead in their beds."

"I would further state that on Saturday, October 8, at Emory and Henry College Hospital, several armed men wearing the Confederate uniform, and, as I believe, soldiers in the Confederate service, entered the same hospital about 4 p.m., overpowered the guard that had been placed there by the surgeon in charge, and went up into the rooms occupied by the Federal wounded prisoners, and shot Lieut. E. C. Smith, Thirteenth Regiment Kentucky Cavalry, dead in his bed, where he lay severely wounded. They at the same time called out for the other Federal officers confined there, particularly Colonel Hanson, Thirty- Seventh Regiment Kentucky Volunteers, and Captain Degenfeld, Twelfth Ohio Cavalry, swearing that they intended to kill all of them; and I believe that they were only prevented doing so by the exertions of Surgeon Murfree, the surgeon in charge, the steward, Mr. Acres, and the other attendants of the hospital. I would also further state that Surgeon Murfree, the other surgeons, and the hospital attendants did all in their power, even at the risk of their lives, to prevent the perpetration of these outrages; and that they assisted in removing Colonel Hanson and Captain Degenfeld, as well as myself, to a place of safety."

"I would further state that we left about 70 of our wounded prisoners in the said hospital, and that I have been informed that these outrages have been perpetuated on them since we left there."

"Respectfully, your obedient servant, WM. H. GARDNER, Surgeon, Thirtieth Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry"

[Source: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Vol. XXXIX, Part I, pp. 554-555.]

"Upon the capture of Plymouth by the rebel forces all the negroes found in blue uniform, or with any outward signs of a Union soldier upon him, was killed. I saw some taken into the woods and hung. Others I saw stripped of all their clothing and then stood upon the bank of the river with their faces riverward and there they were shot. Still others were killed by having their brains beaten out by the butt end of the muskets in the hands of the rebels. All were not killed the day of the capture. Those that were not were placed in a room with their officers, they (the officers) having previously been dragged through the town with ropes around their necks, where they were kept confined until the following morning, when the remainder of the black soldiers were killed."

"The regiments most conspicuous in these murderous transactions were the Eighth North Carolina and, I think, the Sixth North Carolina."

"SAMUEL (his x mark) JOHNSON. Witnessed by John L. Davenport, lieutenant and acting aide-de-camp. Sworn and subscribed to before me this 11th day of July, 1864. John Cassels, Captain and Provost- Marshal."

[Source: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series II, Vol. VII, pp. 459-460.]

Black POW's were murdered at Fort Pillow, TN in April, 1864, at Saltville, VA in October, 1864 and at the battle of the Crater in July 1864, and on numberous other occasions.

You are the one who needs to get a grip.

Walt

Because a race of people have no heritage, or none they wish to be associated with, all other races must purge theirs?

This is the rebel heritage:

"... a North Carolina mountaineer wrote to governor Zebulon Vance a letter that expressed the non-slave holder's view perfectly Believing that some able-bodied men ought to stay at home to preserve order, this man set forth his feelings: "We have but little interest in the value of slaves, but there is one matter in this connection about which we have a very deep interest. We are opposed to Negro equality. To prevent this we are willing to spare the last man, down to the point where women and children begin to suffer for food and clothing; when these begin to suffer and die, rather than see them equalized with an inferior race we will die with them. Everything, even life itself, stands pledged to to the cause; but that our greatest strength may be employed to the best advantage and the struggle prolonged let us not sacrifice at once the object for which we are fighting."

-- "The Coming Fury" p. 202-203 by Bruce Catton.

Walt

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