considered enough of a person to even join the army to be allowed to join the army and fight in the war. well, it is in between 10 to 15,000 that actually carried arms. let s bring in in h.k. edgarton in charlotte, north carolina. you would know about this, because this is what you do. what do you say to this, about african-americans, especially the slavery part of it, because you can understand, a lot of people don t like this celebration because to them it means slavery, they feel that they would be slaves had the south won. well, let s back up some of this. i would like to talk about some of the things that mr. martin talked about. he called the honorable people in the south some of the most honorable people in the country american terrorists and said that if the south had won the war, we would be in the fields now. that s poppy cook and playing on the fieldings of people who want to say slavery and end all dialogue. it is the great thing that the government of virginia did wh
freed. hollywood don t tell this story. other folks don t tell this story and it is one of the reasons why you need to have confederate history month. my question is how do the folks want the southern side told? we talk about black history month. i don t know how you can separate black history from confederate history in the first place. can i get in here now, please? i don t think people think that it shouldn t be taught in history books or people shouldn t learn about confederate history. i think there is a concern when people when you celebrate, when it is believed that people are celebrating confederate history because when you celebrate that, you are it is an insult to african-americans, an insult to people who were slaves when one of the main reasons, though you don t believe it is the whole reason, one of the main reasons behind the war was to keep people enslaved and that s why people think it is insulting. black history month is one month out of a year. go ahead. well,
afterwards. let s listen to cnn analyst roland martin. these were american terrorists. these were individuals who were committing a sin against humanity, who wanted to keep the system of oppression, degradation, and absolute denial of opportunities for african-americans. we re celebrating people and had they won, don, you and i would not be sitting here right now. you and i would be in the fields right now as property, as opposed to being free individuals. and so that s like somebody saying, oh, we re going to celebrate the nazi soldiers by saying, they were only doing their job. that was cnn s roland martin. so confederate history month is going on in a number of southern states and it is primetime for re-enactors who want to bring the battlefield back to life. we have a whole panel of johnny rebs joining us now. tim and lisa knight are here with me in atlanta and h.k. edgarton in charlotte, north carolina. good to see all of you.
don t be nervous. just talking. people want to hear from all of you. so thank you very much. what do you think of the controversy that is going on with the governor and with the proclamation? as far as for the state of georgia is concerned, the proclamation here is to celebrate the confederate heritage month. that s representing everybody that was a part of it, both whites, african-americans, hispanics, indians. not just to represent one particular culture. i don t understand exactly as far as virginia portions of it about leaving out slavery, but as far as the state of georgia, its concern represents everybody who participated during that event. do you feel the same way, lisa? i understand it is a very hot button topic, it is something that strikes a nerve with many people. but it is not something that should be demonized or that should be excluded as part of our history because it is very much part of our history. it is the only time where we thought internally where we had
month because now we have the opportunity to tell the southern side, which is never told. with that being the event of the industrial revolution. i m surprised about in virginia because in virginia, up until the days of the war, those men in the legislatures of virginia working very hard to try to figure out a way to get real emancipation to the slaves. they knew a man was not free unless he had an ability to take care of himself, unless he had land, a home for shelter, and some money. and possibly some slaves of his own. i resent the fact that this man, i don t know where mr. martin is from, the north or where he s from, but it is the same that these folks give to the north that doesn t belong in the north. i believe roland is from the south. don t take it too literally. i think what roland meant was, had the south won that african-americans would not be in the same position that they are now, at least yes, he