At a bucolic campground near Clifton, about two dozen teens spent last week swimming, horseback riding, playing volleyball, shooting a cannon, learning about Confederate war leaders and dressing up for a Confederate cotillion.

The purpose of the camp is to provide a fun environment in which to teach youths what the Sons of Confederate Veterans consider true Southern history — including the group’s contention that the Civil War was not about slavery.

“There is no question that the youth of today must run a terrible gantlet, and that many are struck down along the way by one or more of the politically correct influences which flourish in our schools,” an ad for the camp said.

William Wallace Lyons, 18, of North Carolina climbs a ladder while setting up for a Friday night ball at the camp.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald

“Sometimes these youth are from the best homes with strong families and religious training. With even the most conscientious parenting, though, oftentimes (sic) in high school or college, even these best and brightest finally succumb to the liberal, politically correct view of history. This summer you can help turn the tide.”

The Sons of Confederate Veterans, which has about 33,000 members nationwide, held its first youth camp eight years ago.

The location and number of camps have fluctuated from summer to summer. This year, the only other camp besides the one in Clifton is scheduled for next month in South Carolina.

The camps are open to youths age 12 to 18. Although any teen can attend, most have a parent or grandparent who belongs to the group, officials said.

Campers are barred from bringing video games, music players and cell phones. Instead, they are encouraged to bring “mud-capable outfits” and Civil War-period instruments.

Focus on ancestors

The idea is to get youths to focus on learning about their Confederate ancestors, said Ray W. James, commander of the group’s Texas Division.

On the recreational side, campers learn how to shoot a cannon, fire a musket and ride horses. There is also a ball where some of the teens dress up in Confederate apparel or hoop skirts to perform period dances.

Benjamin Farnum, a 15-year-old from Missouri who attended the camp for the second time this year, said he enjoys the activities, as well as making new friends.

“Dancing and firing the cannon is probably my favorite,” he said.

History lessons

The other part of the camp revolves around classes such as “The Theology of the South During the War” and “Lessons on Southern Heroes.” The overall goal is to teach teens things not discussed in schools, James said.

Ray W. James, commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ Texas Division, stands next to a scale replica of a Civil War-era cannon that participants at the camp learn to shoot.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald

Specifically, the teens are exposed to the group’s contention that the Civil War was not about slavery, James said. Too many people have bought into that notion, he said, and wrongly exalt then-President Abraham Lincoln as wanting to end slavery.

Lincoln was “a bigger racist than I ever knew,” James said.

The truth is that the South was fighting for independence and the North was fighting to preserve the Union, James said. Slavery played into the tensions, he said, calling the practice “morally unacceptable.”

But painting the war as being primarily about slavery falsely gives the North the “moral high ground” and makes it seem as if Confederate soldiers were fighting to maintain slavery, James said. He said slavery eventually would have ended on its own, as it has in other countries.

“To attribute the war to something that wasn’t the cause isn’t right,” James said. “We try to tell it like it is.”

Heidi Beirich, director of research for the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, said such statements might be shocking to people who think of the Sons of Confederate Veterans as an organization for history buffs.

Certainly, some who belong to the group fall into that category, Beirich said. They concentrate on apolitical activities such as cemetery preservation, she said.

Some see hate faction

But the other wing of the group is a hate faction populated by white supremacists, Beirich said. They came up with the youth camp idea as a way to pass on their version of history, she said. It’s a false, revisionist view that downplays slavery and glorifies Confederate leaders, she said.

“The argument they’re making is just false,” Beirich said. “I can’t believe we’re still debating this issue.”

Beirich pointed out that one of the instructors at the youth camp is Kirk Lyons. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes him as a “darling of the neo-Confederate world,” in part because of his work as an attorney representing white supremacists.

Kirk Lyons, an instructor at the youth camp, gives a history lesson to teens.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald

Lyons’ current job is chief trial counsel for the Southern Legal Resource Center. The North Carolina-based group says it exists to preserve the “dwindling rights” of the Confederate community, referring to it as “America’s most persecuted minority.”

One of Lyons’ latest efforts was to urge people to answer the race question on the U.S. Census by writing in that they are “Confederate Southern American.” It was part of a larger push by his center to have Confederate descendants recognized as an ethnic minority.

Lyons is also infamous for his marriage to the daughter of a top Aryan Nations official, Beirich said. The ceremony was held at an Aryan Nations church and was officiated by its longtime leader.

“I think it’s concerning to have extremists like Kirk Lyons teaching kids the South was right,” Beirich said.

James responded by saying Lyons’ “baggage is a problem” but that it’s unfair to cast him as a racist.

James noted that the Sons of Confederate Veterans has passed proclamations condemning hate groups. Some members may be racist, but that’s true of nearly any organization, he said.

“That’s easy tar to get on you but hard to get off,” James said of the allegations of racism.

cculp@wacotrib.com

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