Several local members of a Confederate veterans group say public schools are not properly educating students on Civil War history, and the group wants that to change.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) approached the Catawba County Board of Education on Monday to ask why high school bands did not take part in the Soldiers Reunion Parade. That conversation evolved into a discussion of how the Civil War is taught in schools.

Robert Smith, a member of the Confederate veterans group, read from a press release at the meeting. He said the school board was dishonest with the veterans. He said the group was led to believe heat and timing kept high school bands from Catawba County away from the parade. He said the group later learned students were allowed to choose to participate or not with the understanding that Confederate flags would be used in the parade.

Bill Starnes, the North Carolina Division Legislative Officer for the Confederate veterans group and a Mount Holly resident, spoke to the board.

Bill Starnes of the Sons of Confederate Veterans

“I know there are a lot of people who are offended by the symbols that we celebrate from our Confederate heirs and ancestry,” Starnes said to the board. “However, I know from my own research on this topic that the reason those people are offended by our flag is because they aren’t properly educated.”

Starnes has been a member of the Confederate group for 19 years. He told the board that he didn’t believe schools properly educate students about the Civil War.

“I believe that we have a failure in our country, and our education system and you folks, the school board members,” Starnes said. “We need the true history of our nation taught in all of our schools from the ground up. If everybody had been taught the truth of what brought that war about, nobody would be offended by those Confederate symbols. Everybody would respect what they truly stand for.”

The group did not make clear to the board what they mean by true history.

“We don’t hate anybody,” Starnes said. “I don’t hate anybody. All the hate in this debate that we’re having is coming from that side of the debate.”

After speaking with the board, Starnes answered questions outside the meeting.

Starnes said he was happy the board was willing to hear them out and noted the board’s attentiveness as the group representatives spoke, saying he took this as a sign of their seriousness.

“We’re always very pleased when [the board] is willing to listen to us and hear us out,” Starnes said. “You got to have communication or you don’t have anything. At least we have some communication whether they agree with us or not. They seem like fair, honest, decent people. I appreciate them giving us the opportunity to speak.”

Starnes wanted to make it clear that Sons of Confederate Veterans members do not associate themselves with hate groups that use the Confederate flag.

“We condemn all hate groups, and we don’t want them using our symbol because it makes our jobs that much harder,” Starnes said. He also said the Soldiers Reunion parade is for all veterans.

Starnes hopes the school board will move forward with the issue.

“I would love to see the school board and every school board in our country push for true history to be taught in all of our schools. It’s not something that’s going to be resolved in a week or even in two decades, but you’ve got to start somewhere. We’ve got to get moving on this.”

The Catawba County Board of Education issued a press release Tuesday afternoon.

“Public schools in North Carolina are required to teach the curriculum mandated by the State. We feel confident that the essential standards and objectives set forth in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study are being appropriately taught in each of our schools at the designated grade levels. In fact, the State now requires that all students are tested in American History I and II. Results from the 2017-2018 test administration underscore that Catawba County students outperformed the State in American History I. Catawba County students were 4.3 percentage points above the State average regarding accuracy on goals relative to how conflict and compromise have shaped politics, economics, and culture,” the release stated.

Written by Kristen Hart and published by the Hickory Record ~ August 29, 2018

Confederate Battle Flag of the 37th Mississippi Infantry

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