HERITAGE ISSUE
"Old Times There Are Not Forgotten"
Mr. Lewis:
I read with interest your on-line article captioned above. As a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans heritage organization, I have to say that the tone of your article made me feel as though you were being somewhat disingenuous when you stated at the end, "I hope everyone across this nation can get with the program where we try to make everyone feel welcome in America, even in the South where Jack Kershaw and I both live." This was only a few paragraphs after you had stated, "That's why many people, such as myself, are skeptical when people who belong to such groups as the United Daughters of the Confederacy and Sons of Confederate Veterans, as Kershaw does, say they want to maintain the Confederate flag and keep words such as Confederate on some buildings." That doesn't really strike me as someone who is trying to "make everyone feel welcome".
It sounds to me as though what you are saying is that you immediately assume that all of the approximately 35,000 members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans plus the members of our sister group, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, are racists and bigots unless we are able to prove otherwise. It seems as though you are prejudging all of us based upon the very minimal contact you have had with Jack Kershaw and maybe a few others. Are we all guilty until proven innocent? That seems to me to be a rather bigoted outlook.
I sometimes read articles in which the unknowledgeable writer likens the Confederate flag to the Nazi flag, or attempts to show that the Confederate flag is "owned" by the Klan and other racist organizations. Of course, the articles invariably fail to mention that the U.S. flag, the Christian flag, and the cross of Jesus Christ are also commonly seen items at Klan rallies. Just because evil people use an object does not make the object itself evil. Somehow that fact simply "slips under the radar".
It is possible that some U.D.C. and S.C.V. members are not interested in racial harmony in America, just as members of any organization can be, but as someone who is actually "inside" the organization, I can tell you that that is simply not the case with the vast majority of our members. First of all, we spend a great deal of time studying the history of the mid-Nineteenth Century period, and we spend a great deal of time in researching our genealogy. We acknowledge the sacrifices of our ancestors, and honor them for those sacrifices. Unfortunately, we now also spend a great deal of our time in defending our ancestors against unwarranted attacks by those who want to dishonor them.
These organizations also accept as members persons of any race, color, or creed so long as they can trace their lineage back to a member of the Confederate government or military who served honorably. A noted black S.C.V. member is Nelson Winbush of Orlando, Florida who was raised in Tennessee, and whose grandfather was a member of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry. We also have many members who are American Indians, and quite a few, especially in Texas and other western states, who are Hispanic.
If you are a Southerner, perhaps even you have ancestors who served in some capacity with the Confederate armed forces, and are just unaware of it. By some estimates, there were as many as 50,000 blacks who served in the Confederate armed forces in such capacities as teamsters, cooks, laborers, soldiers, cavalrymen, and sailors. They served right alongside the white soldiers, since Confederate units were not segregated as were the U.S. Colored units. They qualified for Confederate pensions just like the white soldiers and sailors did. If you would be interested, the S.C.V. could help you research your genealogy to see if you qualify for membership.
That fact that Southern heritage organizations wish to honor the heroes and artifacts of this period of American history, such as the Confederate battleflag, should not be looked upon as dark and sinister, and as a reporter ostensibly interested in reporting the truth, you need to approach this idea with an unprejudiced and open mind.
Sincerely,
D. A. Anthony, Palm Harbor, Florida
Gen. Jubal A. Early Camp 556, S.C.V.