[Bay Kid]

Monument Avenue in Richmond, VA. will never be the same. They have removed the statue. They don't even know the history of Gen. Lee.

[dewilson58]

Some are trying to erase history.

Removing a statue does not change history.

Just low hanging fruit for some.

[ditka41]

Another sad display of arrogance and stupidity. I am waiting for a notice from the left wing morons that my middle name is no longer going to be tolerated by our enlightened government and declaring my parents were wrong when they chose it in honor of General Lee. When will they stop trying to erase our American history?

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by ditka41

Another sad display of arrogance and stupidity. I am waiting for a notice from the left wing morons that my middle name is no longer going to be tolerated by our enlightened government and declaring my parents were wrong when they chose it in honor of General Lee. When will they stop trying to erase our American history?

Good question---probably need to look at what stopped Adolph from burning books

[Taltarzac725]

You can put history in a closet but it keeps coming back at you in many ways.

Robert E. Lee was a great soldier and man. Robert E. Lee - Wikipedia

[Stu from NYC]

Such a foolish thing to do. Our kids are never going to know the history of our great country.

You cannot just the past based on the present but can learn how we got here today.

[bimmertl]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Such a foolish thing to do. Our kids are never going to know the history of our great country.

You cannot just the past based on the present but can learn how we got here today.

Really, kids won't know the history of our great country since a Robert E Lee statue was taken down?

Grew up in Wisconsin. Don't believe there were any Lee statues there or anywhere in the Midwest and probably most of the rest of the USA other than the South. Somehow millions of Americans learned US history without seeing statues of Lee. Amazing!

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Some are trying to erase history.

Removing a statue does not change history.

Just low hanging fruit for some.

Monuments typically celebrate the winners, and the honored dead who fought for our country. Robert E. Lee was neither. His monument -should- be reconstructed and placed in a museum of some kind, because the monument itself is an official Historic Monument. But the thing this monument represents doesn't need to be on public display in the middle of a park.

The history is: The south LOST. The Confederacy LOST. He wasn't even very good at being a hero - he ultimately surrendered to Grant at the end of the war.

He led 15 battles during the Civil War. He was victorious in only 5 of them. He was defeated in the first battle, the last battle, and two other battles. The rest were inconclusive, and during one of them, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

There is nothing about Robert E. Lee that warrants his statue being on display in a public park, UNLESS you want to glorify his attempts at maintaining blacks being officially considered inferior and sub-human.

[billethkid]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Monuments typically celebrate the winners, and the honored dead who fought for our country. Robert E. Lee was neither. His monument -should- be reconstructed and placed in a museum of some kind, because the monument itself is an official Historic Monument. But the thing this monument represents doesn't need to be on public display in the middle of a park.

The history is: The south LOST. The Confederacy LOST. He wasn't even very good at being a hero - he ultimately surrendered to Grant at the end of the war.

He led 15 battles during the Civil War. He was victorious in only 5 of them. He was defeated in the first battle, the last battle, and two other battles. The rest were inconclusive, and during one of them, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

There is nothing about Robert E. Lee that warrants his statue being on display in a public park, UNLESS you want to glorify his attempts at maintaining blacks being officially considered inferior and sub-human.

As measured by today's standards/views.

What did the folks who decided to have the statue made and placing it where it is/was....thinking when they decided to go forward?

The will and intent of the people of the past cannot be measured by the distorted special interests of today.

[Taltarzac725]

Lee, Robert E. (1807-1870), soldier | American National Biography

I did find this quite interesting. It is by a well respected military historian-- Russell F. Weigley Russell Weigley - Wikipedia

[Bucco]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Some are trying to erase history.

Removing a statue does not change history.

Just low hanging fruit for some.

You are correct…..removing a statue does not change history…..opposing CRT certainly changes it and removes facts from it. History should be a chronicle of the past, not how we want it to be…..not how we wish it were, but how it was.

Best lesson for young folks is to understand real honest history and do better as they grow.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by bimmertl

Really, kids won't know the history of our great country since a Robert E Lee statue was taken down?

Grew up in Wisconsin. Don't believe there were any Lee statues there or anywhere in the Midwest and probably most of the rest of the USA other than the South. Somehow millions of Americans learned US history without seeing statues of Lee. Amazing!

Yeah way up in Connecticut we learned about the Civil War, also known as the War Between the States (among others). We learned that Lee was a general of the Confederate States - which no longer exists except in the minds of those who refuse to accept that the Confederacy lost the war.

We had no statues of Lee in my town, and we had no problem learning about him and the various battles. He should've just given up in Antietam. If I was a Confederate Southerner I would not want his statue being honored in my town's public park. Maybe a memorial statue to honor ALL the dead, like we have now with military memorials. But his role in the Civil War should not be glorified or celebrated.

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

I’m all for teaching the history of the civil war and studying the battlefield tactics of confederate officers.I also have no problem with statues honoring the average confederate soldier, but to. Put statues up to honor traitors and to name military posts for generals who broke there oath to this country I find appalling .I have felt like this since high school and just walking around any New England town and seeing.the monuments to those who died only strengthens that opinion . I don’t believe in capital execution but Jeff Davis Robert Lee and the next 5 top politicians and generals should have been hanged for the carnage they caused, and now feel free to tell me about the so called Noble Cause that is sinking in to the new history it will probably come from the same people who are complaining about history being washed out

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by billethkid

As measured by today's standards/views.

What did the folks who decided to have the statue made and placing it where it is/was....thinking when they decided to go forward?

The will and intent of the people of the past cannot be measured by the distorted special interests of today.

The statue was erected in 1890, on Monument Avenue, which existed to glorify and celebrate people who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. Glorify and Celebrate - the people who rejected the Union (which was, at the time, what we know now as the United States of America) and fought against it. This war, this Civil War, was the culmination of an attempt to overturn the government. An insurrection of "monumental" proportions (pun intended). The population in Richmond was mostly wealthy white people and poverty-stricken black people. The abolition of slavery only happened 25 years prior, so most adults living there were former slaves with no job, no prospects, few people willing to actually PAY them to work. I would venture to guess that the blacks living in Richmond would not have been very happy to see the figure of their former oppressor be placed proudly and prominently in their town center.

[Taltarzac725]

Making Sense of Robert E. Lee
|
History

| Smithsonian Magazine

This is worth a look.