Tom Moore, Chairman of the Southern National Congress, offered me one of the greatest honors of my life, an opportunity to write a periodic column for you, Southern Patriots who lead the Southern movement. This is my first column, one of introduction. I have a firm belief that a person’s deepest-held values come from their past. At least in my case, I know that to be true. So to be an honest and humble voice for the 21st Century South, I feel it very important to tell you where my Southern views come from.

It might seem strange to you when I confess that I was born in the north. Not just the north, but in New York. And not just New York, but on Long Island. Only New York City or Boston could be worse in my view. (An example: on Long Island, at very prestigious restaurants you will see paintings of Tories and Redcoats proudly displayed.) However, I would also tell you that my second daughter was born in Germany. Is she German? Not at all. If anything, she’s more second generation Irish than German.

However, unlike Julie, who spent only the first two years of her life in Germany, I was raised in the north. I heard first hand in the classrooms all the propaganda which is accepted as true. The shame is that many of these teachers don’t realize they are singing refrains of the same old song. They think they’re teaching history.

Being raised in the north did not just expose me to northern propaganda in the classroom, but also to a way of thinking which in my opinion is very different from even most Americans’ point of view. At the core of this different thinking is a lifestyle which pushes God into a box. God is seen as a very personal and discreet thing, not something you discuss with others, not something that should affect how you live or what your government does. It’s a strange and really hard-to-understand kind of thinking. People in the north who openly talk about God (with the exception of clergy) are looked upon as odd, kind of like the homeless; that is, objects of pity. In the north, money is king. Materialism dominates all.

So where did my Southern-ness come from? How can I claim to be Southern? Why should you be interested in this lone voice out in East Texas?

I am the oldest of five children. When I was eight my father died in a plane crash. Shortly after that my grandfather took all the rest of the family but ours to Florida. We were simple people with little in savings. My mother had to go to work, and it fell to me at eight years old to raise three brothers and a sister. I asked God for help; I had no male role model to emulate. God responded by providing me one. My grandmother, born and raised in North Carolina, gave me a book entitled Blue and Gray. It was the first book I read cover to cover, and through reading it I was introduced to Robert E. Lee. He became my role model. His character, his values, his leadership style, and his way of thinking became my models. I never fooled myself into thinking that I could be Marse Robert. But I did believe that the example he set, if followed, would lead me to do the right thing.

My interest in the South and the War only grew. My Nanna told us about her grandfather, Private David Parks Walter, 33rd North Carolina Volunteers, who lost his leg at Chancellorsville. Every Christmas my mom and others would give me books and games on the War. Deciding to become an infantry officer, I set a goal of going to West Point, the United States Military Academy. Other things would occur in my young life to bring me to a realization of Christ. Billy Graham actually preached in Shea Stadium!

Through my childhood God worked, and when my senior year came I applied to the one and only school I wanted to attend. I took the tests and was given a Congressional nomination. But when I took the physical I learned for the first time that I had no depth perception. West Point would not take me. Quickly I had to find an alternative, and I choose The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, in Charleston. Amazingly, God had done it again. Here occurred the very first shots of the War when Citadel cadet batteries opened fire on the Union supply ship Star of the West in January 1861, a full four months before Fort Sumter.

I earned a commission and served as an infantry officer until I was assigned to teach in – of all places -- New York City! It took only a year and half before I resigned. But I did not realize how Southern I had become until I worked as an aide to politicians in New York for fifteen years. Eventually, I left New York for Texas when it became obvious to me I was fighting a losing battle in New York. American liberty, as articulated in the U.S. Constitution, was dead. Republicans were no better than Democrats. Government had replaced God as the answer to all life’s questions.

As I write future columns, I hope you’ll see that my Southern point of view was forged in the fires of individual independence. I was forced to stand alone time and again. And in the world of politics that can be very dangerous. Perhaps because I was so different, so unique, I was never seen as a threat. Because I came at the problems of governance with a Southern point of view, I was tolerated as an example of “diversity.” I laugh to myself to think I was an example of a policy I believe is destroying the modern United States.

I look forward to the journey and to searching out a consensus of what it means to be Southern at the turn of the Century. Because our women, dialects, and music are so captivating and colorful, foreigners and even Southerners are distracted from the more mundane but more meaningful aspects of being Southern. I believe my voice stands out in the Southern chorus because I arrived here by a far different path than most of you. All the more reason why that voice has valuable something to offer. I hope as we move forward with the Southern National Congress, a 21st Century Southern identity will take shape. Check out our website, and join with us in this adventure.

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