[JMintzer]

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.

Where are these mythical museums where they're putting all of these statues?

[JMintzer]

I'm glad they took it down...

Racism is now solved and we'll not have to hear about it any more...


Wait, what?

[Taltarzac725]

What Should West Point Do About Its Robert E. Lee Problem? - Modern War Institute

How about General Robert E. Lee as seen by cadets at West Point in 2020? The comments after the article are worth a long look.

[Stu from NYC]

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!

Have you noticed that our children and grandchildren go to school and learn very little about our history.

Perhaps when they see a statue they might be interested in learning more about the man and the times he lived in.

[Chi-Town]

Took a ride down Monument Ave. last year and only saw two statues. Arthur Ashe and Robert E. Lee. Kind of ironic don't you think?

Anyhow the Lee statue was quite a sight to see with every square inch of the pedestal covered with graffiti.

[Road-Runner]

The 'victors' always manage to rewrite history and to a large degree the losers, too. Japan has removed all mention of the atrocities perpetrated by their troops such as The Rape Of Nanjing, their beheading of prisoners, etc. etc. Now our civil war was fought for one reason and one reason only, the noble pursuit of abolishing slavery. It's almost totally untrue, but heh what does that matter?

[Chi-Town]

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.

The previous president disagrees with your assessment of Lee's ability.

..."If only we had Robert E. Lee to command our troops in Afghanistan, that disaster would have ended in a complete and total victory many years ago"...

Amazing.

[Bucco]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Have you noticed that our children and grandchildren go to school and learn very little about our history.

Perhaps when they see a statue they might be interested in learning more about the man and the times he lived in.

No I have not at all. Most kids are hungry to learn, and that should be something we all instill in them.

[Bucco]

Originally Posted by Chi-Town

The previous president disagrees with your assessment of Lee's ability.

..."If only we had Robert E. Lee to command our troops in Afghanistan, that disaster would have ended in a complete and total victory many years ago"...

Amazing.

A real student of history which has been exhibited over the years !!!

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by Chi-Town

The previous president disagrees with your assessment of Lee's ability.

..."If only we had Robert E. Lee to command our troops in Afghanistan, that disaster would have ended in a complete and total victory many years ago"...

Amazing.

Maybe a Sherman with his March to the Sea kind of scorched earth tactics. That does not make any friends in that area for the future though. Scorched earth | Military Wiki | Fandom

[BigSteph]

Originally Posted by 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.

I am from Richmond.

All of the tearing down of the city is one of the reasons I left recently. No, not a big reason, but just another check on the Pro/Con list of reasons to leave.

I get that the monuments are symbols with different meanings to the different types of people that live in the city. If I were black, it would remind me of just how troubled my existence may have been 150 years ago, and continuing to present.

Had we decided as a city to address things and let everyone make a case, it is possible that the monuments could have been respectfully moved to a more appropriate place (such as a national civil war battlefield). Yet, we didn't have those discussions and we had a summer of rage where every manner of illegal activity was allowed to flourish in Richmond. The monuments were defaced. A feel good moment for some, and an insult to others. Civility was on vacation and a line was drawn -- My Tribe or Your Tribe.

Richmond is famous for its past and it cannot escape it. Unlike Charleston and New Orleans and others, Richmond is unable to celebrate the very bad and the good -- hold it up to the truth of the past. The original White House of the Confederacy was in Richmond. The "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" speech by Patrick Henry from a hundred years earlier is only blocks away. Edgar Allen Poe had a home another block or two away. Mr. Bojangles was a Richmonder. Arthur Ashe was born in Richmond. The QB from the Seahawks, Russel Wilson, is a Richmonder -- my friend coached him in high school -- he said he was a better baseball player than he was at football -- imagine that.


Richmond even had an opportunity to host the national slave museum and somehow it decided against it. Richmond was one of the top locations in America for the importation of human labor (slaves). It would have been fitting to have the National Slave Museum adjacent to the White House of the Confederacy on grand Church Hill. Richmond could have capitalized on its past and gave context to those bronze and granite statues. Context that might be hard to accept by some, and ever-so needed for others.

Instead, like so many urban areas, the city erupted into an unrecognizable orgy of ropes, chains, spray paint, broken windows, and fires. Buses burned in the street, buildings set ablaze, shops looted. The summer was long and hot, covid was raging, and social justice flames fanned hotter. Interesting to note, the vast majority of the faces of the agitators were pale, not brown or black.

I drove downtown weeks later and it looked like something from a picture of a war zone.

I realized that it wasn't a place for me any more. Richmond cannot celebrate its history, it can only tear it down. The thing is, it all still happened.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by 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.

One step further, under Communism history is rewritten with every change of leadership. In most countries history is just conveniently reinterpreted. And other countries are ashamed of theirs. Each to their own.

[Billy1]

Originally Posted by 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.

Lee lost the war against the United States of America, praise God.

[jimbomaybe]

Taking down statues is much like burning books you don't agree with, leaving it up as a something to provoke ( a reasoned) discussion of history would seem to this "Joe Six pack" a better course

[Girlcopper]

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.

That statue has been up for decades with no protests. Now, all of a sudden, its offensive. Boohoo. I have never heard anyone ever feel the statue was meant to look at blacks as inferior. Sounds like a personal opinion and not fact