Defying Ft. Defiance: My Mother and I take on the Civil War

By: Yvonne Kendall

Yvonne Kendall earned her doctorate at Stanford University. She currently serves time as an associate professor at a state university in Texas.

Preface: Ft. Defiance is a historical monument in Clarksville Tennessee, where my parents live. The fort is in their neighborhood where I was brought up. As part of a loving the confederacy celebration, my mother, who is a county commissioner from her district, was asked to dress as they did “back in the day.” Well, back in the day my mother would have been a slave. BTW, the person who asked her to do this was African American, just so you know that I know that there are crazy people of all races. If you recall, my mother was the person called out an elementary school teacher who was dividing her students into slaves and masters, complete with the unanticipated runaway slave, a White child who stayed missing in school for hours! My mother’s objection got national attention in the blogosphere.

Now, my mother, the person who objected to student slavery and who had had to go to graduate school at the local state university after dark so as not to “upset” White day students, was asked to dress as a slave. Aw, hellll no! And so, my mother says to me via phone, “write me a speech.” And so, I did. (Of course, this was after I had laughed myself sick at the thought of what my mother must have looked like when the woman asked her to dress in period clothing and exactly how big the pile of ashes left of that woman must have been when my mother looked at her). Here’s what I wrote.

The Speech: In 1861, five months after seceding from the Union, Confederate troops used Ft. Defiance to defend against U.S. troops. Federal troops captured the fort in 1862 and after a month where Ft. Defiance returned briefly into Confederate hands, the fort became a permanent U.S. outpost for the remainder of the Civil War.

As an educator, I see the value in acknowledging the history of our city. Learning how people lived in the 19th century, what clothes they wore, and how they did basic tasks is important for our children to witness. As the wife of an army veteran who served three tours of duty in Southeast Asia, I see the value in acknowledging the service of Confederate soldiers. These military troops believed they fought for their way of life in a just cause. It is appropriate to remember them.

But, as an African American citizen of the United States, where my rights have historically been denied, I think it is also appropriate to remember that in this war, citizens in this state removed themselves from the United States of America. They annulled their relationship with this country in order to join with states like our southern neighbor Georgia. In its Declaration of Secession, Georgia declared that the enslavement of my people was necessary for “security” and “domestic peace and tranquility.” The declaration of fellow Confederate state Mississippi stated that “a blow at slavery is a blow against commerce and civilization.” Alabama’s Ordinance of Secession stated a desire to “meet the slaveholding states of the South” in order to form a government. It is true that Tennessee did not mention slavery specifically when it separated from the United States, but the other states did.

These states made this decision because they did not like the outcome of a presidential election. They split this country apart and lost us thousands of lives because they could not accept a democratic election. Over 6000 Tennesseans died. I ask you to remember this as people in our own time and in our own town talk of secession. When they question a democratic election that spoke the will of the American citizens, we must remember the lives lost when people said these things over a century ago. Let Ft. Defiance be a lesson for our future. Let us all trust the will of the people and discuss our disagreements with civility and honesty. Let us not use words or deeds of violence in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Let us remain “one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.”

Postlude: The mayor emailed my mother. The Superintendent of Schools called her. People stopped her in the street and on the job. All said the same thing. Thank you for saying what had to be said. One man said, “I hadn’t even thought about this, but after what you said, I’m thinking about it now.” I’m glad at the reception because all that I wrote is true. We can’t get anywhere if we only talk to those with whom we agree or only talk at those with whom we disagree. Demonizing and trying to bully fellow citizens is not the way to find common ground.

About the Author:

Yvonne Kendall earned her doctorate at Stanford University. She currently serves time as an associate professor at a state university in Texas.