Klan and Nazis Do Not Represent Dead Confederates

© Dr. Gary D. Lemmons, June 18, 2006

I am a southerner by birth, and like a lot of southern men of my generation, I am proud of the valor and bravery of my Confederate ancestors.  I make no apologies for that.

Now don’t get me wrong; I don’t honor them for their defense of slavery.   Slavery was a bitter thing…wrong…in the sight of God and in the sight of all freedom loving men.  The racism that followed the Civil War and exists even to this day is a horrible disease and one that each of us should endeavor to eradicate in our own heart and deportment everyday of our lives.

Also, I am not confused about or obnoxious with my respect for my “heritage.”  I am, first, last, and always, an American.  As such, I do not wave the Confederate Battle Flag and, as much as I enjoy the tune, I do not stand-up when they play "Dixie."

The fact that my ancestors fought for the preservation of slavery is mitigated only by the fact that the preponderance of Confederate soldiers did not own slaves.  A large number of the rank and file came from poor southern families who were not significant property owners of any kind…real estate or chattel.  Most of these boys were fighting for what they perceived as their “country,” whether it was Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, etc.

I suspect that the Confederate government, just like our national government in the United States today, put a spin on the war.  Doubtless, "patriotism" and "love of country" were stressed, and the young Confederate soldiers were hyped-up on a large dose of “one of us equals ten of them Yankees”…a nineteenth century version of “bring it on!”

After the war, a number of the former Confederate soldiers became members of the Ku Klux Klan.  Among those was my great-great-grandfather, Jasper M. Tyler.  Having fought in the 14^th Tennessee Infantry at the Battle of Stone’s River in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, against his own brother, Adolphus Tyler, who was a soldier in the 92^nd Illinois Infantry, my ancestor returned to his home on Norman’s Creek in the southwest corner of Coffee County.

Within a short-time, my great-great-grandfather became disillusioned with the organization and repudiated his membership.  His son, Andrew, who was my great-grand father, once told me it was because of the Klan’s turn toward terror against blacks.  There were black residents in the community in which my great-great-grandfather lived, and he was opposed to the harassment and insults that they endured.  I suspect that by today’s standards he would still be categorized as a “racist,” but I take comfort in the fact that he never participated in terrorist activities toward his black neighbors.

Last weekend, Gordon Young, an imperial wizard of the World Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and a few of his minions in their white robes, joined members of the National Socialist Movement, wearing their swastikas, and demonstrated at Antietam National Battlefield.

In and among his remarks, Young stated, “As the Klan, we are the ghosts of our Confederate brothers and sisters who died here.”

I am sorry, Mr. Young; you and the goose-stepping slime with which you march are “ghosts” alright, but not of the honorable Confederate dead who rest there.  You are “ghosts” of the “un-holy trinity”: "ignorance, hatred, and bigotry."  You are not worthy even to be on the sacred ground of Antietam, but the freedom and liberty that is guaranteed by this great nation…the same freedom and liberty that you would deny to others because of the color of their skin…allows you to display your vile and impious corruption.  

Now slither back from whence you came!