Nathan B. Forrest: Civil Rights Advocate?

Most Americans may not know who Oliver Hill was, but there doesn't seem to be a shortage of people who know that Nathan Bedford Forrest was an early civil rights advocate.  It doesn't get any more absurd than this, though the idea of "Stonewall" Jackson as the "black man's friend" is definitely a close second.

Comments

[matthew mckeon]

"he gave the colored lady a kiss, unheard of in those simpler times when usually a gentleman would proceed to rape his bondswoman without romantic flourishes."

While the former proprietor of "Slaves are us" was a man of his times, not ours, one doesn't get to be Grand Wizard by advocating voting rights for freedmen.

[LarryC]

"By: Calvin E. Johnson, Jr. Member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and Author of book, "When America Stood for God, Family and Country." "

I have given up on trying to engage or reason with people like this. Which is sort of abandoning my duty as a teacher.

[Cash]

Unbelievable. I'd change his question from "Why do some folks attack America's heritage?" to "Why do some folks distort America's heritage?"

Regards,
Cash

[Jim]

Dear Kevin,

I wanted to take the opportunity to apologize for my behaviour over the past few months. As you've noticed I have spent a great deal of time following your blog and comments on other blogs. I've taken every opportunity to warn readers of your anti-southern bias, but now realize that this has been unfair to you. I now understand that much of your attention to the history of the South is a result of your research interests and not necessarily based on a belief that southerners are more or less racist than northerners. I even went back through your blog and found a number of posts on race in the North.

Please except my apologies.

[Kevin Levin]

Jim, -- Apology accepted. You are always welcome to disagree with my posts, but you must do so without adding the personal insults. I am not anti-southern-whatever that means and I am well aware that racism is not exclusive to any one region. In fact, I think it is absolutely essential to remember that it is not. Our memory of the history of the race tends to point to the South as the bastion of racism. This is a big mistake.