The Texas Confederate Statues Controversy
Out of Austin, Texas comes word that the president of the University of Texas is forming a panel to decide the fate of numerous campus statues depicting Confederate leaders such as Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis. President William Powers Jr. summarized the lingering controversy:
"The whole range of options is on the table. A lot of students, and especially minority students, have raised concerns. And those are understandable and legitimate concerns. On the other hand, the statues have been here for a long time, and that's something we have to take into account as well."
Regular readers of Perrspectives' pieces such as "Confederacy of Dunces" and "Banning True Flag Desecration" won't be surprised by my preference to see the long-standing statues relocated or removed from a public American university. Traitors and secessionists with blood on their hands should be vilified, not celebrated. Rather than perpetuate the mythology of Confederate nobility, courage and honor, the school might do well to give those monuments some fitting historical context, perhaps in a display on slavery.
As I wrote in 2005, one of the simplest and most elegant expressions of the issues involved with the Confederate flag and other symbols of the old South came from, of all places, a late 1990's TV show about sports.
Sports Night, by West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin, was a comedic drama portraying the cast and team behind a nightly national sports program akin to ESPN Sportscenter. In an episode titled "The Six Southern Gentlemen of Tennessee," the show's executive manager Isaac Jaffe delivered a special on-air editorial regarding a group of college football players who refused to take the field as long as their school continued to use the Confederate flag as its symbol. What Jaffe (played by Robert Guillaume) said may be the most succinct and powerful argument I've heard against the display of the Confederate flag by public institutions:
"In the history of the South, there's much to celebrate. And that flag is a desecration of all of it. It's a banner of hatred and separation. It's a banner of ignorance and violence and a war that pitted brother against brother, and to ask young black men and women, young Jewish men and women, Asians, Native Americans, to ask Americans to walk beneath its shadow is a humiliation of irreducable proportions. And we all know it."
The Texas statues case, of course, is somewhat more complex, given the campus legacy of the statues and the undeniable historical significance of their subjects. But at the end of the day, as Sports Night's Jaffe put, to celebrate the leaders of a war that pitted brother against brother is "a humiliation of irreducable proportions."
And we all know it.
ROBERT E. LEE OWNED SLAVES AND DEFENDED SLAVERY
Robert E. Lee is no hero. He was a defender of slavery and a harsh critic of abolitionism; he was also a slaver who brutally punished those who sought their rightful freedom. There are many reasons to damn the Federal government's role in the Civil War, but none of them offer any excuse for celebrating vicious men such as Lee.
Djenane,
Where did you receive your information? Robert E. Lee did not own slaves. In a letter dated December 27, 1856 he wrote “slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil”. He felt that his duty was First to his family, second to his home state of Virginia and then to the Union. If Virginia was to have stayed with the Union he would have been commander of the United States Forces. He never owned a slave and I just wonder where you get your information. The post that you made is a joke and any basic historian is laughing at such a dumb comment
Djenane Aylward, You just showed how really stupid you are. You need to pick up a history book and stop listening to the NAACP!
So far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that Slavery is abolished. I believe it will be greatly for the interest of the South. So fully am I satisfied of this that I would have cheerfully lost all that I have lost by the war, and have suffered all that I have suffered to have this object attained.
Robert E. Lee
Djenane,
You could not have graduated High School.
“I will say, then, that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races—that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, that there is a physical difference between the white and black races."
Abraham Lincoln November 1858
Here is what I LOVE about Michael Hayes' (the first 'gentleman' who responded to my comment) website. His "Black Supporters" page is filled with numerous crudely 'photoshopped' images of blacks proudly displaying their Confederate battle flags. It's pretty comical stuff, not too many images that are credible, but humerous at any rate.
Djenane,
If you google H.K. Edgerton you will find out that he is a black Confederate Flag supporter and was head of the NAACP in North Carolina. He is one of those blacks that you state is photoshoped. Contact him at http://www.heritage411.com and he will set you straight. It is also very easy to tell how stupid you are when you make comments about Robert E. Lee owning slaves. Get your facts straight before you make a dumb ass comment.
You can take down the statue of Robert E. Lee when you take down the Lincoln monument. Djenane look at the quote below by Lincoln. You making statements against Lee shows just how little most African Americans know about history. Also, if you want to see Black Confederate Veterans on 1930's new reels, check out Echos of the Blue and Grey I & II
"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; " The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume V, "Letter to Horace Greeley" (August 22, 1862), p. 388
Whats funny about Djenane is that she has yet to admit that her first statement was nothing but made up lies. Any Civil War historian will tell you that Lee was NOT pro slavery but stated that he would not take up arms against his home state of Virginia. The other thing that Djenane doesn't know is that less than 23% of Confederate Soldiers owned slaves. The average soldure was 18 to 20 years old, his family had no ties to slavery and hr felt that the war was over the North taxing the South over exports. Even General Sherman said that if he thought he was fighting to free the slaves he would not be fighting.
Mrs. Aylward, here is what I LOVE about people like yourself. You are clueless about the Civil War and make false statements about people that you know nothing about. You assume that because people fought for the South that they are slavers and harsh people. Less than a quarter of the men that fought had any ties to slave ownership. If you want bash people in history I suggest that you do your homework first so that you don't look quite so foolish.
Fact: Many of those shots of Blacks displaying Rebel flags are indeed 'photoshopped'.
Fact: There are many that claim the Holocaust never took place, however just because several Nazis post something doesn't mean that it is true.
Fact: The Southern States were slave states.
Fact: The south lost and slaves were freed.
Fact: Robert E. Lee fought for the south and is no hero of mine.
Have a nice day 'gentlemen'.
Djenane,
Here you go:
Fact: Contact H.K. Edgerton and ask him about his photos being photoshoped. You can google him and get his information. He will aslo tell you how bad the NAACP is run.
Fact: During the Civil War Lincon admitted West Virginia as a slave state so explain that
since you think the war was over slavery.
Fact: Lincoln did not feel that the war was over slavery and most leaders wanted the institution ended. The importation of slaves had ended by 1810 and very few confederate soldures owned slaves so who cares.
Fact: Robert E. Lee is not a hero of yours because you have been brainwashed. You yourself have yet to admit to the lies that you posted about him.
Fact: It is very evident that you have anger issues and need some counceling and inner healing.
God Bless and have a nice day Miss.
Thank God for people like Rick Perry who are proud members of The Sons of Confederate Veterans and will not let people like Djenane get away with removing statues. By the way Djenane, there are hundreds of Confederate Statues all accross the South and even President Obama sent a wreath of flowers to the Confederate Memorial in Arlington on He said that the Confederate Soldure was to be honored. Here is the article:
May 26, 2009
Obama's Confederate memorial the right move to make.
"President Obama sent a wreath to the Confederate memorial at Arlington cemetery during the memorial services to recognize the sacrifices and service of the members of our armed forces this week. It has been a tradition since Woodrow Wilson offered a wreath to memorialize Confederate dead at Arlington and a tradition that many on the American far left wanted to see ended. They have been disappointed.
But the president also started a new tradition, one that everyone should welcome and one that we should all hope is continued by every succeeding president that comes after Obama. President Obama also laid a wreath at the African-American Civil War Memorial at Vermont Avenue and U Street Northwest in Washington D.C.
President Obama struck just the right balance on this and he should be commended. By memorializing the fallen from federal service, the fallen from Confederate service, and the fallen memorialized by the African-American monument we have at last a united effort that recognizes the sacrifice of all Americans, equally.
Sadly, many leftists in America didn't want this reconciliation, this retying of bonds, to occur. They wanted punishment, further separation, and vitriol to reign. They wanted President Obama to refuse to recognize that the many hundreds of thousands of Americans of southern heritage could possibly have died in an honorable fashion. After nearly 150 years, the left wanted to continue the strife.
Don't get me wrong, rapprochement is not always the right course at just any time. There are requirements for both sides for such an effort to be worthwhile. In this case, the north was the victor the south the vanquished, but a realignment between our two once warring sections has obviously been successful for several generations. Unlike other societies wracked by sectional differences that ended in war, America's rift has healed. While there certainly remain some differences and political clashes, there is no feeling of separation that tears at those bonds of affection or shatters the mystic chords of memory between us, north and south.
So, it is right and good that President Barack Obama should continue to remember the Confederate fallen while also renewing our obligations to remember all who fell for the union. All, each and every one, not just those of the "right" color.
Some may say that the memorial at Arlington most certainly represents the black Americans that fell during the Civil War. They may say that a wreath at the African — American monument is pointless pandering. On the surface, they would be right to say so. But there is significance to recognizing the blacks that fought and fell with a special remembrance. Because of the unfulfilled promise that the Civil War represents, it is fitting that fallen African-Americans be given their due here.
Obama's wreath at the African-American monument costs us nothing and rewards us well. His continuation of the memorial to the Confederate dead reminds us that all is forgiven and renews our brotherhood, and his solemn duty at Arlington for the fallen of our federal services pays homage to those who gave their last full measure.
May God bless our fallen. Each and every one, Americans all."
"I am OFFENDED and I DEMAND you remove your history to APPEASE my delicate sensibilities" is the new battle cry of African Americans.
A letter from one of General Lee's slaves:
"My name is Wesley Norris; I was born a slave on the plantation of George Parke Custis; after the death of Mr. Custis, Gen. Lee, who had been made executor of the estate, assumed control of the slaves, in number about seventy; it was the general impression among the slaves of Mr. Custis that on his death they should be forever free; in fact this statement had been made to them by Mr. C. years before; at his death we were informed by Gen. Lee that by the conditions of the will we must remain slaves for five years; I remained with Gen. Lee for about seventeen months, when my sister Mary, a cousin of ours, and I determined to run away, which we did in the year 1859; we had already reached Westminster, in Maryland, on our way to the North, when we were apprehended and thrown into prison, and Gen. Lee notified of our arrest; we remained in prison fifteen days, when we were sent back to Arlington; we were immediately taken before Gen. Lee, who demanded the reason why we ran away; we frankly told him that we considered ourselves free; he then told us he would teach us a lesson we never would forget; he then ordered us to the barn, where, in his presence, we were tied firmly to posts by a Mr. Gwin, our overseer, who was ordered by Gen. Lee to strip us to the waist and give us fifty lashes each, excepting my sister, who received but twenty; we were accordingly stripped to the skin by the overseer, who, however, had sufficient humanity to decline whipping us; accordingly Dick Williams, a county constable, was called in, who gave us the number of lashes ordered; Gen. Lee, in the meantime, stood by, and frequently enjoined Williams to ““lay it on well,”” an injunction which he did not fail to heed; not satisfied with simply lacerating our naked flesh, Gen. Lee then ordered the overseer to thoroughly wash our backs with brine, which was done. After this my cousin and myself were sent to Hanover Court-House jail, my sister being sent to Richmond to an agent to be hired; we remained in jail about a week, when we were sent to Nelson county, where we were hired out by Gen. Lee’s agent to work on the Orange and Alexander railroad; we remained thus employed for about seven months, and were then sent to Alabama, and put to work on what is known as the Northeastern railroad; in January, 1863, we were sent to Richmond, from which place I finally made my escape through the rebel lines to freedom; I have nothing further to say; what I have stated is true in every particular, and I can at any time bring at least a dozen witnesses, both white and black, to substantiate my statements: I am at present employed by the Government; and am at work in the National Cemetary on Arlington Heights, where I can be found by those who desire further particulars; my sister referred to is at present employed by the French Minister at Washington, and will confirm my statement.
"
—Testimony of Wesley Norris (1866); reprinted in John W. Blassingame (ed.): Slave Testimony: Two Centuries of Letters, Speeches, and Interviews, and Autobiographies Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press (ISBN 0-8071-0273-3). 467-468.
Djenane,
Your retarded. This is Robert E Lee's brother Custis Lee NOT Robert E Lee comander of the Confederate Army. Custis Lee was a general in the US Army at this time. Robert E Lee was stationed in Ft. Washitia Oklahoma.
This [letter] was the prevailing view among most religious people of Lee's class in the border states. They believed that slavery existed because God willed it and they thought it would end when God so ruled. The time and the means were not theirs to decide, conscious though they were of the ill-effects of Negro slavery on both races. Lee shared these convictions of his neighbors without having come in contact with the worst evils of African bondage. He spent no considerable time in any state south of Virginia from the day he left Fort Pulaski in 1831 until he went to Texas in 1856. All his reflective years had been passed in the North or in the border states. He had never been among the blacks on a cotton or rice plantation. At Arlington the servants had been notoriously indolent, their master's master. Lee, in short, was only acquainted with slavery at its best and he judged it accordingly. At the same time, he was under no illusion regarding the aims of the Abolitionist or the effect of their agitation.
– Douglas S. Freeman, R. E. Lee, A Biography, p. 372
One question that has yet to be answered by Djenane. Is she willing to take down the Lincoln monument because he stated that blacks are not equal to whites and he said that they should not hold public office. What does she thing about Obama sending flowers to the Confederate Monument? Is she also willing to take down statues of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams etc.....
This is a hard question
"Gen. Lee notified of our arrest; we remained in prison fifteen days, when we were sent back to Arlington; we were immediately taken before Gen. Lee, who demanded the reason why we ran away; we frankly told him that we considered ourselves free; he then told us he would teach us a lesson we never would forget; he then ordered us to the barn, where, in his presence, we were tied firmly to posts by a Mr. Gwin, our overseer, who was ordered by Gen. Lee to strip us to the waist and give us fifty lashes each, excepting my sister, who received but twenty; we were accordingly stripped to the skin by the overseer, who, however, had sufficient humanity to decline whipping us; accordingly Dick Williams, a county constable, was called in, who gave us the number of lashes ordered; Gen. Lee, in the meantime, stood by, and frequently enjoined Williams to ““lay it on well,”” an injunction which he did not fail to heed; not satisfied with simply lacerating our naked flesh, Gen. Lee then ordered the overseer to thoroughly wash our backs with brine, which was done."
This WAS the one and only General Robert E. Lee
This is like dealing with a room full of Holocaust deniers.
One question that has yet to be answered by Djenane. Is she willing to take down the Lincoln monument because he stated that blacks are not equal to whites and he said that they should not hold public office. What does she thing about Obama sending flowers to the Confederate Monument? Is she also willing to take down statues of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams etc.....
This is a hard question
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grM-nrWbY1E
Djenane,
Look at this link where they photoshopped a black man holding a Confederate flag!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grM-nrWbY1E
Sorry for the above post, I wanted you to click on THIS link of a photoshopped black man holding a Confederate Flag. 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRugu9NrkCk
One question that has yet to be answered by Djenane. Is she willing to take down the Lincoln monument because he stated that blacks are not equal to whites and he said that they should not hold public office. What does she thing about Obama sending flowers to the Confederate Monument? Is she also willing to take down statues of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams etc.....
I think they should tear down the Roman Colosseum as well - That is a place where slaves were forced to fight each other to the death for the enjoyment of thousands
I think they should tear down the Great Pyramids of Giza - they were built by thousands of slaves
you cannot erase history....not displaying things is a disservice to future generations....the only way to keep history from repeating itself is to learn and evolve....people need to understand every aspect of that period in our Nation's history, not just the good things
"It is now pretty well established that there are at the present moment many colored men in the Confederate Army doing duty not only as cooks, servants, and laborers, but as real soldiers, having muskets on their shoulders, and bullets in their pockets, ready to shoot down loyal troops, and do all that soldiers may do to destroy the Federal government and build up that of the traitors and rebels. There were such soldiers at Manassas and they are probably there still."
Source: Fredrick Douglass September 12, 1861