Nelson W . Winbush Nelson W . Winbush ( born 1929 ) , is an educator and retired assistant principal . He is notable as one of the few African - American members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans . ( SCV ) , and for his support of controversial issues such as public display of the Confederate battle flag . Early life and education . Winbush was born in Ripley , Tennessee , the Mississippi delta area , to Isaac and Ganelle Nelson Winbush . His siblings included brothers Robert and Harold , and sisters Mary and Dorothy Jean . His family grew up in the house built in 1908 by his maternal grandfather Louis Napoleon Nelson . As Nelson lived until 1934 , Winbush had a few years as a young boy to absorb his vivid stories of slavery and service with the Confederates during the American Civil War . As a slave youth , Louis Nelson had accompanied his master James Oldham ' s sons as a servant when they went to war from their plantation . He eventually became part of Co . M , 7th Tennessee Cavalry of the Confederate Army , first working as a cook . The company was led by General Nathan Bedford Forrest . In the late stages of the war , Nelson was allowed to serve as a rifleman , and later served as chaplain to both blacks and whites ; he had already memorized the King James Bible by heart . As a descendant from Nelson , a recognized Confederate veteran , Winbush later qualified for membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans . He notes that his grandfather received a pension from Tennessee for Confederate veterans , beginning in 1920 Both Winbush ' s mother Ganelle and his maternal grandmother were teachers , and education was prized in their family . Winbush and his siblings all earned college degrees and some , like his sister Mary , also earned graduate degrees . She became a teacher and principal . Winbush earned an undergraduate degree in science and a master ' s degree in physical education . Marriage and children . Winbush married and had a family . His wife died before 2007 . One of their sons is a Naval Academy graduate and professional at IBM . Career . Winbush became a teacher and later an assistant principal , having a career in education like his mother and grandmother . In 1955 he moved with his family to Florida . Resisting integration , the public system retained segregated schools for years past the US Supreme Court ruling of " Brown v . Board of Education " ( 1954 ) that declared them unconstitutional . Opinions on Confederate history . In 1991 , after the NAACP began a campaign against the Confederate flag being celebrated on public buildings , Winbush disagreed and decided to join the Sons of Confederate Veterans . He is a member of the SCV ' s Jacob Summerlin Camp # 1516 in Kissimmee , Florida . As an adult he had learned more about his grandfather and his military service , and Winbush came to honor his support for the Confederacy . With his retirement from teaching , Winbush felt ready to speak out on public issues . For instance , unlike many other African Americans , he considers the Confederate flag part of Southern heritage and appropriate for public display . He has said that the South seceded from the Union because of states ' rights , not slavery . " He denies that President Lincoln freed the slaves , explaining that the Emancipation Proclamation 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 . He has been known to sing a Confederate song including the line , " . . . Black is nothing other than a darker shade of rebel gray . " In 1998 Winbush participated in making a video on " Black Southern Heritage , " directed by Dr . Edward Smith of American University , who is also an African - American SCV member . The video covers his grandfather ' s Confederate military service and qualification for a Confederate pension after the war , as well as elements of other African - American heritage . The NAACP and similar organizations have criticized Winbush for his support of what they believe are neo - Confederate causes ; they think he misunderstands the history of the South .