My uneasy relationship with Robert E. Lee

By: presidentialman
Published On: 1/18/2007 1:59:44 AM

January 19, 2007 marks the bicentennial of Robert E. Lee's birthday.  As a history buff who formerly volunteered with the Robert E. Lee House at Arlington National Cemetery and who goes back as a visiter from time to time, I'm looking forward to the event.  I think it should be celebrated, and it is-sporadically.  This does not mean I'm a racist, I've been to JFK's birthplace at Brookline,Ford's Theatre, the Lincoln Memorial, the WWII Memorial that I helped dedicate, going to these places is what I do and who I am. I suppose no one cannot seperate Lee from the dirtiness of defending slavery. It's like saying that Hitler was a great man because he invented the Volkswagon. If you try to defend him it's like you're on Laugh-In and you say "sock it to me" because inevitably you're going to get a pie thrown in your face. 

What makes me mad in all this muckrake over macaca stories and related cousins is that these are still painful reminders of bygone days.  Rep. Hargrove says we should "get over it", well we have gotten over it. We've moved on, but Hargrove who is in his 80s is the one that ignites the spark.  His natural reaction assures us that if there is a person who hasn't gotten over it, its him.  Otherwise he'd be able to say "apology for slavery? And lets recognize the genecide to the Indians too. Hell, since its the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, lets recognize the Virginia tribes."  But he's not. What the fuck was Marshall thinking when he wrote discrimnation into Virginia's Constitution? A gay friend of mine immidiately became the first casualty by moving to Boston.  I'd say, if your going there, you might want to checkout Watertown, where my grandfather lives-next to two couples that are lesbians.  Like straight people, one couple cheated on the spouse and they did it wth the people next door.  Any rate I was just thinking of the Couric tirade against Virgel "good ol boy" Goode, I guess this is why we aren't ce;lebrating Lee, but we're gearing up for the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth and we celebrate King every year, because we no longer live in Lee's America.Our nation protects the rights of All Alericans,the black,hispanic,the women, the Asians, the disabled ,like me, we protect everyone. That is what the North won.  The won the freedoms of all Americans.  The Allied in WWII won all the freedoms of the people of the world. The Civil Rights Marchers marched for people who weren't even born. We don't live in Lee's America anymore. And yet the reminders like Hargrove that we still do. 

Comments



Strange coincidence eh? (Bubby - 1/19/2007 3:51:24 PM)
That we find Robert Lee's 200th birthday falling in this very week of shameful bigoted behavior in the Legislature.  We can honor Lee for his service and sacrifice, and we must finally and publically atone for the devastation of slavery.  A long period of evil that ended with a tragic flash of immense destruction must be witnessed.

As I reflect on the well known destruction of General Lee, his long career as an officer and Commandant at West Point, the loss of his fortune and property (Arlington) - what else did America lose in so many lives and so many communities?  The Civil War impoverished America in many ways, but the suffering had been been going on for 250 years.  We should never forget.