The church I pastored in Burtonsville, Maryland, has a cemetery behind it. Some of the graves would usually have the stars and stripes and the confederate flag stuck on them.
Piqued my curiosity.
The brother who pastored before me was an avid reader and he had this whole library of books about the civil war, and of generals on both sides but mostly about General Lee and Stonewall Jackson.
Piqued my curiosity some more.
So I started reading on the civil war, and slavery.
In the course of my readings I found books that mentioned of blacks fighting alongside Johnny Rebs, with freedom as incentive, and I goes, "what" ? I thought the reason them yanks were killing fellow whites is so them blacks can go free.
Then I came across some books on Irish history and early New York history and the sweatshops and all that and I goes, "what ? ain't this some form of slavery and exploitation ?".
Finally, putting two and two together, I came to the conclusion that the civil war was about big daddy wanting to whup them southern boys into line, and make them pay their taxes and homages to big daddy up North, and have them bow and kiss big daddy's behind and they ought to shout to the world it smells like roses !
Heck, the blacks were just something to rouse the hypocrisy that's in everybody, then and now.
So one day we took this trip to Gettysburg, and I bought me the finest Confederate Flag I can find in one of them shops, and hung it right over the bed in our bedroom.
One day my son who was in the USAF came home on furlough, and saw the flag, and told me to take it down, because he had been taught that that flag was a symbol of racism and hate.
I told him if I had been blessed to be born in the United States during those times, I would probably be fightin' right 'longside them rebs.
End of story.