The Mississippi flag is not the Confederate flag. The Confederate flag is not the Mississippi flag.

Nowhere in the official description of the Mississippi flag do the words Confederacy or Confederate States appear. This is a fact. The two flags are not interchangeable.

There are those who have trouble separating the two flags, who have trouble separating fact from fiction. I’d like to share some facts with you.

Slavery was an issue, but by no means the issue which caused the War Between the States. Estimates vary as to how many Southerners owned slaves, ranging from 6 to 10 percent of the population.

The percentage of soldiers who owned slaves was about the same. A partial list of Southern leaders who did not own slaves includes Gens. Robert E. Lee, Joseph Johnston, A.P. Hill, Fitzhugh Lee and J.E.B. Stuart.

There were many black slave owners, including William Johnson of Natchez who wrote the famous diary that was edited and published by Louisiana State University Press as &uot;The Barber of Natchez.&uot;

Easily thousands of blacks served the Confederacy, in every capacity from laborer to soldier. At least 2,000 Adams County residents were included in this number.

James Lucas died in 1938 at the age of 104. John Brannon died on Dec. 2, 1922, and his funeral service was held at Holy Family Catholic Church. &uot;He was not compelled to serve, he was born free and lived free.&uot;

Among those attending the funeral were &uot;officers of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The United Confederate Veterans attended as a body, and it was under a cross of Confederate flags that his remains were ushered into the church and afterward borne to their last resting place.&uot;

The quotes are from The Natchez Democrat dated Dec. 5, 1922.

Letters written home reveal a lot about the war. Correspondence from the War Between the States rarely mentioned slavery.

What was mentioned included home sickness, food (these soldiers were always hungry), duty, honor and questions about loved ones.

Thomas F. McKie recalled his last day at home. &uot;You remember, mother, we walked in the garden and you cried.&uot;

J.S. Gage wrote a a last letter as he lay near death. &uot;I died like a man. Remember that I am true to my country. This letter is stained with my blood.&uot;

Both young men, members of the University Grays, died at Gettysburg. Take note of what was said as well as what wasn’t said.

It is a little known fact that a young black boy lived in the Confederate White House at Richmond. President Jefferson Davis, a Mississippian, rescued Jim Limber from his abusive black guardian. Jim lived not as a slave or servant but as a member of the Davis family.

After the war, Southern blacks felt no great animosity toward Southern whites. Those blacks who had served the Confederacy were proud and many attended Confederate reunions. During an 1868 interview, Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Mississippian, said that &uot;those boys stayed with me and better Confederates did not exist.&uot;

In February 1890 black state Legislator John Harris left a sick bed to speak for funding of a Confederate monument.

Mr. Harris said, &uot;I too wore the Gray. We stayed four long years, and if that war had gone on till now I would have been there yet.&uot;

The funding measure passed. It should also be noted that a majority of black legislators voted for our state flag in 1894.

In 1909 Dr. Booker T. Washington was giving Gen. James H. Wilson a tour of Tuskeegee Institute when Wilson noticed portraits of Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. &uot;Stonewall&uot; Jackson, he asked Dr. Washington why he had pictures of &uot;those damn Rebels.&uot;

Dr. Washington replied, &uot;These are pictures of Southern gentlemen, the best friends the Negro ever had. I do not care to hear you speak disrespectively of them, Sir!&uot;

Frederick Douglas was also an admirer of Gen. Lee. One of his prized possessions was a chandelier from Lee’s home, Arlington.

On Oct. 10, 1931, the United Daughters of the Confederacy dedicated a monument to the memory of Henyard Shepherd. Shepherd was a free black who was murdered by John Brown’s followers during the raid on Harper’s Ferry.

It is true that some hate groups use and misuse both the Confederate flag and the Mississippi flag. These same groups also misuse the American flag and the Christian flag. All of these flags are in the public domain. Their use cannot be restricted or prohibited.

The facts I have presented are not what the politically correct crowd, the revisionists and the hate-mongers want you to hear.

They surely don’t want you to vote on April 17 to keep our flag.

As I have said in a previous letter to the editor, the truth is out there.

&uot;Am I therefore your enemy because I tell you the truth?&uot; (Galatians 4-16)

Joe Stutzman is a Natchez resident and a history buff who has studied the Civil War era for many years.