Are we becoming overly sensitive ?

Question:I am a historical reenactor. We do Civil War living history shows. Obviously there are both Union and Confederate soldiers and camps for each. Recently, we were doing one here in Michigan and a school had a field trip to our event. There was an African-American teacher who started a huge scene in front of her class while going through the rebel camp. She demanded that all the confederate battle flags be taken down. This was an historical show, These are reenactors, not slave owners. Do you believe she was overreacting or were we the reenactors wrong for being accurate.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I am a historical reenactor. We do Civil War living history shows. Obviously there are both Union and Confederate soldiers and camps for each. Recently, we were doing one here in Michigan and a school had a field trip to our event. There was an African-American teacher who started a huge scene in front of her class while going through the rebel camp. She demanded that all the confederate battle flags be taken down. This was an historical show, These are reenactors, not slave owners. Do you believe she was overreacting or were we the reenactors wrong for being accurate.

If she doesn't understand the civil war, how on earth did she become a teacher? History is history, like it or not. If she had some issue that she couldn't discuss with her class in a rational manner she shouldn't have booked the trip for her class. I wonder how it made the kids feel who's ancestors fought and/or died on the side of the confederacy. What a horrible example for an adult to set. It's a bit disheartening that an educator of our children would behave so disgracefully.

wow... why would you even bring the kids to a civil war reenactment if that's how you feel? thats just an unfourtunate display on her part.

she was overreacting. How are you suppose to reenact it correctly if you're missing pieces?

That's absurd.

She over reacted. It was an accurate historical reenactment. If she didn't want to see the flag, she should not have been there.

The Confederate flag stands for more than slavery. Unfortunately it is only "some" people's cultures that are important while other people's heritage are supposed to be ignored.

This teacher doesn't understand context and was being unreasonable.

Having the Confederate flag hanging on the lawn of a government building is quite different from a historical reenactment.

This type of censorship is dangerous to a learning environment

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You should have captured her and enslaved her, in the interests of historical verisimilitude.

She overreacted. Unfortunately in the United States of the Offended that we live in Im sure she could find a willing liberal lawyer that would take her case and sue the crap out of Re-enactors everywhere because they forced her to look at the Confederate Battle emblem.
I agree with another poster here that trying to make our history go away because it offends some people is wrong in so much that it is not congruative (sp) to the learning of our own history. As the famous line goes, "Those that do not know our history are doomed to repeat it."

She sounds completely barmy to me. what would she expect to find at a Civil War re-enactment, for heaven's sake? Of course she was wrong. i find it quite alarming that someone as plainly unbalanced as she is should be in charge of a class of children. I would be fearful for their safety.