Nelson W. Winbush
Encyclopedia
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Sons of Confederate Veterans is an American national heritage organization with members in all fifty states and in almost a dozen countries in Europe, Australia and South America...
. (SCV). He is a member of the SCV's Jacob Summerlin Camp #1516 (Kissimmee, Florida
Kissimmee, Florida
Kissimmee is a city in Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 59,682. It is the county seat of Osceola County...
).
Early life and education
Winbush was born in Ripley, TennesseeRipley, Tennessee
Ripley is a city in Lauderdale County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 7,844 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County...
, where he grew up in a house built by his grandfather Louis Napoleon Nelson in 1908. His grandfather lived until 1934 and told vivid stories about his service during the Civil War. As a teenager he had accompanied his master's sons, for he grew up in slavery on the James Oldham plantation. He became part of Co. M, 7th Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
Cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
of the Confederate Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
, carrying a rifle, and serving as chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
to both blacks and whites because he had memorized the King James Bible by heart. He began his military service as a cook
Cook (servant)
A cook is a household staff member responsible for food preparation. The term can refer to the head of kitchen staff in a great house or to the cook-housekeeper, a far less prestigious position involving more physical labour....
, then a rifleman
Rifleman
Although ultimately originating with the 16th century handgunners and the 17th century musketeers and streltsy, the term rifleman originated from the 18th century. It would later become the term for the archetypal common soldier.-History:...
, and finally a chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
. Being descended from this Confederate veteran enabled Winbush to qualify for membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Sons of Confederate Veterans is an American national heritage organization with members in all fifty states and in almost a dozen countries in Europe, Australia and South America...
.
Winbush earned an undergraduate degree in science and a master's degree in physical education. His two siblings also went to college; and his mother and grandmother were teachers.
Marriage and children
Winbush married. One of his sons is a Naval AcademyUnited States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
graduate and professional at IBM. His wife died before 2007.
Career
Winbush became a teacher and later an assistant principal, having a career in education. In 1955 he moved to Florida, which retained segregated schools for years past the US Supreme Court ruling that declared them unconstitutional.Opinions on the South
Winbush has many views that were once popular in the South. In 1991 after the NAACP began a campaign against the Confederate flag being celebrated on public buildings, Winbush decided to get involved and joined the Sons of Confederate Veterans. He was retiring from teaching and thought he could speak out, because he considers the Confederate flag part of Southern heritage. He believes the South seceded from the Union because the federal government taxed it disproportionately, and that the war was fought over states' rightsStates' rights
States' rights in U.S. politics refers to political powers reserved for the U.S. state governments rather than the federal government. It is often considered a loaded term because of its use in opposition to federally mandated racial desegregation...
, not slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
. "He denies that President Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
freed the slaves, explaining that the Emancipation Proclamation
Emancipation Proclamation
The Emancipation Proclamation is an executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War using his war powers. It proclaimed the freedom of 3.1 million of the nation's 4 million slaves, and immediately freed 50,000 of them, with nearly...
affected only the Confederate states, which were no longer under his authority."
Winbush has traveled widely to SCV posts and other organizations to speak about his views and heritage. During one of these speeches, when referring to his Confederate heritage, Winbush sang part of a song, "....Black is nothing other than a darker shade of rebel
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
gray."
In 1998 Winbush participated in the production of a video on Black Southern Heritage by Dr. Edward Smith of American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
, who is also an African-American SCV member; it discusses in part his grandfather's Confederate military service and qualification for a Confederate pension after the war.
His views on these topics have drawn criticism from organizations such as the NAACP.
See also
- Black Confederate Soldiers