I was just a little boy in elementary school English and Math and Science class Learning the golden rule I learned how to add and how to subtract How to multiply and divide I learned about bugs and I learned about plants And I learned how to read and write But my most favorite class of all was my last class of the day When my history teacher would tell us tales of old times long gone away I was amazed at the way she knew all the people and their names and the places and the dates Cuz when I first learned about General Lee and his 13 rebel states.
One day she came to school with a big brown grocery bag She opened it up we all helped her hold her up This great big X-shaped flag She said "Class, now only a fool would tell you this flag is a symbol of hate It represents the men who fought and died with pride for our Confederate states Your assignment tonight, I want you to write, I want you to pretend That one of these brave men came back to life, What would you say to him Well the school bell rang and I thought and I thought as the bus carried me across town I got out my pencil and my notebook pad and this is what I wrote down
I wrote
Mr. Confederate man, I'd like to shake your hand For giving your life for Dixieland Mr. Confederate man,
The next day in history class, I put my paper on the teacher's desk Then she called me up in front of everyone, because she said she liked mine the best As I walked up to the head of the class, my teacher smiled and she nodded at me Then I saw a tear roll down her cheek as I began to read
I read
Mr. Confederate man, I'd like to shake your hand For giving your life for Dixieland Mr. Confederate man,
I was at home reading through the news, just the other day When I ran across my old teacher's name and I saw that she had passed away With a bitter-sweet smile I looked up at my wall, a wrinkled paper and an old wood frame Where underneath penciled words almost faded away, she had marked a great big red A Plus