One of the biggest lies out there, and being propagandized by a group that is calls itself the Sons of Confederate Veterans, is the falsehood that Blacks fought to protect their slave owning masters. We can suppose that there were some that did, just like there were some who sold out Martin Luther King and were paid snitches against the Black Panthers and SNCC. But the overwhelming majority of African- Americans would have never been trusted with a gun given to them by a racist, slave-owning Confederate government.

The mental propaganda that Blacks were forced to endure probably produced some misguided and ignorant people that thought they could believe the lies of the southern gentlemen slave owning class.We can certainly assume that some Blacks fought for the slave owners because they were forced to do so, and their families threatened with death by the Southern murderous slave class. It would also stand to reason that free Blacks might have been tempted to fight for the Confederacy since their status as freemen would be jeopardized if they didn’t.

There were all sorts of ways to intimidate Blacks in those days including rape, hanging, beatings, and sheer terror. All of these methods were used by the brutal and murderous Confederate States to suppress slave rebellions and Black insurrections. Why would one argue about the number of Blacks that fought for the Confederacy, if any, unless one was trying to justify slavery and racism?

We can find instances of Native Americans who fought with U.S. soldiers intent on committing genocide against another Native American tribe, but that does not mean they weren’t duped. In fact, many Native Americans were promised all sorts of “forked tongued” gifts if they helped destroy other tribes. Some fell for it!

The same can be argued that there must have been some Uncle Toms that wanted to protect their slave masters, and some who were forced or given false promises. We can be sure of one thing, the Southern Heritage of racism, slavery, and murder was coupled with a campaign of sophisticated lies designed to fool people into supporting one of the most evil regimes in history—the Confederate States of America. There is no such thing as “Southern Heritage” outside of the realm of slavery, hatred, murder, and bigotry.

The South has already begun its journey toward self-inspection, with the realization that the Southern way of life was ruined and tainted by slavery. We always have to look with a weary-eye at anyone who refuses to accept the fact that “Southern Heritage” can never be divorced from the horrors of genocide and murder against its Black citizens. Anyone talking about “Southern heritage” outside of its racist history is a Klansman, a fool, or just plain ignorant.

The great majority of Blacks hated the southern heritage of slavery and racism. Some of them were smart enough to bide their time by telling their slave masters that they supported them over the Union forces, while all the while plotting for the defeat of the rebels. Some even served as spies and provided valuable information as to where the rebels were hiding and had hidden their weapons.

Many slaves escaped the racist South, deserting their forced allegiance to the Confederacy, and joined the Union armies to help with crushing blows that finally ended the institution of slavery. Many free Blacks, fearful of the laws that the southern states were enacting after John Brown’s raid, offered their services to the Confederacy by building defensive works and constructing vessels. But, they only did so in order to protect their freedom or the hope of it.

There are pictures of Blacks in Confederate unions, but this proves nothing as it was a common practice to use Blacks as propaganda to make people in the North think that Blacks loved being slaves. We cannot believe pictures from that era nor newspaper accounts claiming that Blacks supported the South for the simple reason that the slave owners owned the newspapers, and had the ability to force Blacks to say whatever they wanted under penalty of death.

Some pictures appear to be forged as they were of Black Mexicans. These were not slaves at all. Blacks were forced into service and made to do the work of the Confederate States of America. This is something that should never be celebrated and is a disgrace to raise it to the level of a civilized society.

Any people that are forced to take up arms in defense of their slavers or oppressors can never be equated with justice or heroism. We must realize that the Confederate States of America was an ugly blot upon history and should never be celebrated. That organization should be looked at in much the same way we view the despicable Nazi regime of Adolph Hitler. Everyone should be careful when surfing the web for there are dozens of racist Web sites that repeat the lies that the slave owners invented hundreds of years ago.