( WXXI) With the removal of Confederate statues happening across the country, how does that backlash affect Civil War re-enactors?
Captain of the Western New York Federal re-enacting unit Reynolds Battery L John Beatty said some groups representing the Confederacy are moving away from using the red flag with the blue "X" completely in their re-enactments, since it has become associated with so many hate and white supremacist groups.
He said the actual flag of the Confederacy looks much different, but those are also more difficult to come by.
People are often surprised to hear about Confederate re-enactors living in western New York, says Beatty.
"It’s basically because they can point to an ancestor that did it; it’s not that they're big into any political agenda whatsoever. They just do it because they find that it’s a great way to educate people about the war itself."
Beatty said it’s important to remember that American history is complicated and learn from those mistakes.
“Unfortunately, a lot of people don't want to look at the history of the country in a broad spectrum; we're only concentrating sometimes on just the good."