"A Black Confederate Defends Dixie
Constitution/Conservatism Editorial
Source: Dixie Daily News
Published: 7/19/01 Author: Bob Harrison
Posted on 07/19/2001 13:31:38 PDT by shuckmaster
To Mike Ritter of the Arizona Tribune
Being a full-time husband and father of three wonderful little Rebels, I have little time for such squabbles, but this one bears a strong need for attention. Before I go into this issue at length let me explain a few things about myself.
MY name is Robert Harrison, and I am a professional historian and Research Librarian at SC State University, one of the oldest Historically Black Colleges in the country. Secondly, I am the descendant of TWO Virginia slave families so I am more than knowledgeable about the plight of slaves, NORTHERN as well as Southern. Firstly your claim that NO ONE is willing to show understanding towards the "feelings" blacks have towards the Battle Flag, is unfounded and completely false. Many Southerners of all walks of life have been VERY vocal about the fact that slavery was dark event in the history of our country. However, the "official facts" we are spoon fed through our so-called "official texts" and the media do not even begin to cover the WHOLE TRUTH on the institution of American Slavery.
There is VERY little told of black slave owners, and almost NOTHING regarding Northern slaveholders and their refusal to allow Thomas Jefferson to write into the declaration the freeing of the slaves. It was NORTHERN slaveholders that blocked this inclusion. I might also include that while there were SEVERAL black slave owners, most of them were WOMEN. I am sure you have heard of the phrase "putting your bellybutton back on the block." Well, where that comes from is the female slave owners. Quite often, either through loyal service or through payment they would earn their freedom and begin buy the freedom of their family members. These women, by law at the time, owned their husbands. If they caught their husbands cheating with another slave they "put his bellybutton back on the sale block." Personally I am very grateful for the courts today.
Granted modern hate groups such as the KKK and Aryan Nations have done great damage to dishonor and mislead others on the REAL meanings of these proud symbols. However, no one understands that plight more than we do. MANY Southerners, black and white, from such organizations as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the League of the South, and the Southern Party, of which I am a member and staff writer have gone toe-to-toe with these same hate groups, the media which you are a part of is fearful of portraying the truth to the people of the South and the rest of the country.
A fine example of this is the fact that I and several other fine Southerners went to a Klan rally to protest the Klan and their misuse of our symbols and heritage. Folks like the Jerry Baxley drove HOURS OVERNIGHT to be there to join me in this fight. When we got there, the NAACP crowd and the Klan were yelling at each other like children til they saw me, in full uniform. IT was the NAACP, not the Klan that showed violence towards our presence. There is another example in Florida where SCV members stood toe-to-toe with the Klan in pouring down rain on this very issue. I politefully suggest that before you make such outrageous claims to first research it first.
As for how blacks feel about the physical presence of the flag and other symbols of CSA heritage, you are gravely mistaken. It is true that many blacks, who have been heavily influenced by the propaganda and money-focused agenda of the NAACP have been taught to believe that everyone flying a battle flag is the enemy and that White Southerners who choose to show pride in their heritage are evil hate-mongers. However, a vastly growing number blacks are beginning to look for themselves and sit down at the table of brotherhood with the white sisters and brothers and learning to understand that not only why these fine white folks love the CSA, but the FACT that the beloved Battle Flag also represents a long hidden and misused part of their own history; that of the Black Confederate.
Oddly enough MANY blacks already know of and EMBRACE this part of their history and vocally fight for it with unmitigated pride. There is Silas Chandler, who went to war with his childhood friend Andrew Chandler who showed great bravery and loyalty by helping save Andrew's leg from amputation. Silas's living descendant Bobbie Chandler, is a close personal friend of Major Michael Kelley, and is publicly HONORED by his ancestor's service to the CSA.
There is Nelson Winbush, whose ancestor Private Louis Nelson rode with General Nathan Bedford Forrest, whose name I am sure you recognize, from beginning to end of the war. Forrest by the way, freed ALL of his slaves BEFORE the war. US commanders such as Grant and Sherman didn't free their slaves until passage of the 13th amendment to our constitution 6 months AFTER the war ended. Even then these so-called "newly freed men" weren't recognized as full citizens til passage of the 14th amendment, which was passed 3 YEARS AFTER the war ended. SC State senator Robert Ford recently spoke on behalf of the flag saying it was not the flag that is the problem, but the black hearts of those who use it for bad purposes. The Reverend Charles Greene, Former Roanoke, VA chapter president of the NAACP who is now an associate member of the VA SCV division. "
Continued....
