I am a Confederate-American. That simply means that my ancestors lived in and fought for the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. It does not mean that I am a hater, bigot, racist, traitor, white supremacist, white separatist, secessionist, anti-Semite, alt-right supporter, xenophobe, Nazi, KKK member, or any of the other derogatory labels currently being hung on proud southerners who happen to value statues of Confederate soldiers. In fact, I am none of those.
Some of my ancestors were slaveholders but most of them were not. The ones who actually saw combat in the Civil War were subsistence farmers who had nothing to do with slavery. They marched off to protect their homes and families from an aggressive invading army from the north, and I am proud that they showed the courage to do so, just as their ancestors fought against the British Army in the American Revolution.
Eminent historian and Civil War expert William C. Davis wrote, "The widespread northern myth that the Confederates went to the battlefield to perpetuate slavery is just that, a myth. Their letters and diaries, in the tens of thousands, reveal again and again that they fought and died because their Southern homeland was invaded and their natural instinct was to protect home and hearth."
The recent trend of conflating Confederates with Nazis is extremely offensive as well as historically wrong, whether it is done from the political right or left. My father, also a proud Confederate-American, spent three years in Europe fighting against Nazis in World War II. The Confederate States of America had the first Jewish cabinet member of any government on the North American continent, and many Jewish men donned Confederate gray in defense of their homes in the south. It is also well-documented that there were a considerable number of black Confederates.
Confederate statues being removed today for the cause of political correctness are in place to honor bravery, not slavery. Many were placed to honor the service of soldiers whose remains could not be sent home because they died on faraway battlefields and were buried there. The statues were erected in lieu of headstones that those soldiers would never have.
I have not had any personal experience with the KKK, but photos show that they have historically used Christian crosses and American flags much more than they have used Confederate symbols. Are we going to protest the display of Christian and American symbols because they have been adopted by hate groups? Are we going to demand that mainstream Muslims quit building mosques because of the actions of some radicals among them? If not, then why are we trying to do cultural cleansing of Confederate symbols because of the recent actions of a few madmen and fringe groups, many of which have nothing to do with the Civil War or the Confederacy?
Despite the adoption of these symbols by hate groups, I will continue to attend a Christian church, salute the American flag, stand for the National Anthem, and fly my Confederate flags proudly.
Lloyd Baldwin
Branford, Fla.
