LEMON: Let's bring in H.K. Edgerton in Charlotte, North Carolina.
H.K., 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.
H.K. EDGERTON, BLACK CONFEDERATE RE-ENACTOR: Well, no, let's back up some of this. First of all, 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 feelings of people who want to say slavery, and end all dialogue.
It is a great thing that the government of Virginia did when he declare Confederate History Month because now we have the opportunity to tell the Southern side, which is never told, with the advent of the industrial revolution.
And I'm very 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 -- white folks in the South knew that 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 virtuosity that these folks give to the North. That virtuosity doesn't belong to the North.
LEMON: I believe Roland is from the South. And I don't want you to 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 --
EDGERTON: Yes, he --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Let me finish. I let you talk. I'll give you time. At least, when it comes to civil rights, because that's what the Civil War was about. The South, let's just be honest, did not want slavery to end. That was the main focus for the Civil War. And that's when secession came about. They wanted to secede from the union if slavery was abolished. That's what the Civil War was about.
EDGERTON: No, sir. I disagree with you. Let's talk about some real evidence.
LEMON: Listen, am I to believe --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Hang on. Let me ask you a question.
EDGERTON: No, you said what you had to say.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: I let you talk for a long time, Mr. Edgerton. I'll give you your choice. Am I to believe the history book that, what I've read about, what the history books say, what every other historian says, my own ears and my own eyes, or am I to believe what you say and what Civil War re-enactors say?
EDGERTON: Let's just go to that. Let's talk about that. Let's talk about the establishment of the public school system in 1965 and how the Northern schoolteachers came here to demonize and divide and separate black folks and white folks here in the South.
But more importantly, let's talk about Abraham Lincoln and his Coren Amendment. If the Southern men wanted to maintain the economic institution of slavery, they would have went along with Lincoln's support of the Coren Amendment. And basically what Lincoln said is that if the South would agree to the tax increases that the North was proposing, that Congress would never have the ability to write an amendment to end the economic institution of slavery.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: OK, right there -- hang on one second.
EDGERTON: Let me finish my thought.
LEMON: I'm not cutting you off to get a point in.
That's what you're doing.
LEMON: I'm cutting you off because I need to take a break. We'll come back and discuss more.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Welcome back, everyone, to our conversation. Virginia's governor opened up some old wounds by declaring April Confederate History Month and leaving slavery out of the equation. We have been talking with a panel of three Civil War re-enactors, Tim and Lisa Knight, they're here in Atlanta, and then H.K. Edgerton joins us by satellite.
I'm sorry. I had to take a break there. You were saying.
EDGERTON: Are you talking to me, sir?
LEMON: Yes.
EDGERTON: See, here is the whole thing about it. Having Confederate History Month and talking about leaving out slavery, the thing about it is, when you have Confederate History Month, we start talking about the king of things that took place around America, you can't leave out slavery. You have to talk about the place of honor and dignity that African-Americans, free and indentured, earned under the Christian cross of St. Andrew. I'm talking about Confederate flag. 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, why are these folks afraid to have the Southern side told? They don't want to tell you about these things. They -- we talk about Black History Month. I don't know how you can separate black history from Confederate history in the first place. Do they ever tell --
LEMON: OK, can I get in here now, please?
EDGERTON: Yes. Go ahead.
LEMON: 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, although you don't believe it was 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.
EDGERTON: Well, talking to me? Am I on?
LEMON: Yes. Still talking to you.
EDGERTON: Yes, see that's the sad part about this thing. The (INAUDIBLE) of these folks, including black folks, who presume to assume that that slave somehow was just a man, all he did was to pick cotton and beans and sugar cane. He was a very intelligent man. This man could do everything.
LEMON: All right, Mr. Edgerton.
EDGERTON: Huh?
LEMON: OK, Mr. Edgerton.
Anyway, let's bring back -- I can't let you go on with that. That part is going to upset me when you talk about slavery. No one wants to be a slave, black, white or whatever.
Please tell me that is a photoshoped picture