O.J. Simpson’s cousin believes Confederates were Civil War’s good guys

He’s a black man who enjoys putting on a Confederate uniform and carrying a Confederate flag — a symbol of racism to many — because he thinks Southerners were the good guys.

He’s a Democrat who supports Sen. Hillary Clinton because he thinks she’s smart and more experienced than Sen. Barack Obama.

He’s a liberal who leads a conservative life.

He’s O.J. Simpson’s cousin but declines to discuss his relative because, well, because he doesn’t want to.

“If I were a white guy, they’d deem me an apologist,” Armstrong said after a lengthy discussion about why the Confederates were the good guys and the Yankees were not fighting to end slavery, but to protect their economy and preserve the union. “Slavery was a dying institution in the South. Eventually, I believe most slaveholders would have emancipated the slaves.”

For many, that’s a radical view of slavery.

Armstrong, who teaches at UNLV’s African-American studies program, now has a new venue for his views; he’s preparing to teach a class through UNLV Educational Outreach called “Civil War Re-Enactment Novice Workshop and Field Experience.”

The documentary filmmaker came up with the idea for the continuing education class, which begins Oct. 9 with classroom work and ends with a two-day re-enactment at the Spring Mountain Ranch State Park on Oct. 27 and Oct. 28. The cost per person, including re-enactment: $114 for a trip to the 1860s. The Web site with further details is http://edoutreach.unlv.edu/ and the phone number is 895-3394.

This will be the second year the American Civil War Society has put on this re-enactment at the Spring Mountain Ranch. Last year there were more than 300 participants and more than 2,000 visitors observing, said Scott Egy, park interpreter.

Organizers this year are expecting 400 re-enactors and as many as 6,000 observers. Armstrong hopes his students will be among them. “People always dream about getting into a time machine to partake of historical events,” Armstrong said. “We’re offering them the chance to be a part of an historical event.”

The eight hours in the classroom over four Tuesdays will cover history, weapons, ordnance, equipment, rations, infantry drill, military uniforms and military organization.

The re-enactment will have roles for men, women and children, so it could be a family affair. Children could be powder monkeys or drummer boys, women would be laundresses or even suit up as soldiers. Roles for the men would run from soldiers to surgeons to messengers.

One reason Armstrong wants it to be authentic: He’ll be filming another documentary, this one about Jim Limber, the black adopted son of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Armstrong has already completed three documentaries on the Civil War. The first was “The Forgotten Battle of Fort Pillow and the Birth of the Ku Klux Klan” about a massacre of black and white Northern troops in 1864. “Black Confederates: The Forgotten Men in Gray” was the documentary he premiered in 2002. It explores the role of black people in the Civil War. The third is “Native Americans of the Civil War.”

While numbers aren’t exact, there are estimates that as much as 10 percent of the Confederate Army was black, slaves as well as free black people.

Armstrong’s great-great-grandfather Capt. John David Herndon was a white slave owner, who took his son from a black woman to the war with him. His late father Lloyd Armstrong taught him to be proud of his Southern heritage and both his parents shared his “slave views.”

Even as a child, the Civil War fascinated Armstrong. But in 1995, his mother gave him $500 to go to Memphis to “follow your dream,” which involved participating in his first re-enactment and begin his first documentary.

Since accuracy and authenticity are important to him, it was his idea to teach accurate re-enactment. “As we get educated as a people, more and more African- Americans are starting to embrace their Confederate roots,” said Armstrong, whose family roots are in Louisiana, although he’s lived in Las Vegas since he was 2.

Those taking Armstrong’s re-enactment class may find their long-held beliefs about the Civil War challenged. That’s not necessarily bad, because history isn’t stagnant, and sometimes accepted “truth” can change.

Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.