Last week riots broke out in Charlottesville over the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee. What was supposed to be a protest against the statue’s removal turned into a disgusting rally of white supremacists and neo-Nazis.
Black Lives Matter, Antifa and other groups opposing the white supremacists protested against these hate groups, though the matter eventually turned deadly.
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In order to make myself explicitly clear, this article is in no way supporting the mission of Neo-Nazis or white supremacists. I don’t just condemn both groups; I actually hate them. Their mission disgusts me, as it should disgust any American.
However, Robert E. Lee’s statue should remain standing.
Robert E. Lee is an integral part of history, and not just Southern history, but United States history. While Lee did command southern forces in their attempt to secede from the U.S., he nonetheless played a vital role in the Civil War, which is United States history.
It is important to mention that Lee did fight for the United States. During the Mexican-American War, Lee led his men through territory deemed "impassable" by the Mexican Army, ultimately aiding in his victory using the weapon of surprise.
Lee did fight for the Union in the beginning of the Civil War, and the only reason he left to fight for the Confederacy was that his home state of Virginia decided to secede. Lee had a greater allegiance to his home state than the United States. Who are we to fault his allegiances?
While the Confederacy did not want to eradicate slavery, let us not forget that the issue of states' rights and the economic tensions between North and South played a much larger role in the Civil War's beginnings. Slavery happened to be the common denominator. In fact, a majority of southerners did not own any slaves, despite popular belief.
The Northern and Southern economies were incompatible with one another, with the Industrial Revolution creating a demand for wage laborers rather than slaves. Immigrants from Ireland and Germany were willing to work for terribly low wages, only further solidifying the idea that slavery was no longer needed.
Yes, Lee did own slaves. After the passing of his father in law, he and his wife inherited the Arlington estate and became executor of Mr. Custis’ will, which demanded that all his slaves be freed within a five-year period. He made sure that this, in fact, happened. Lee was much too busy with his career to focus on maintaining a plantation and slaves, all of which were essentially thrown upon him.
Yet, regardless of all of the above, Lee deserves to have a statue, at least in Virginia. Virginia was his home state. He only fought for the Confederacy because of his birthplace! When Texas seceded from the Union, Lee remained loyal and even went back to Washington.
For Lee, fighting with the Confederacy was not a matter of slaves or racism, but rather due to his loyalty to his home state. Had Virginia not seceded Lee most likely would’ve remained a member of the Union.
While I’ll never agree with the Confederacy and their fight to keep slavery alive, I can’t help but feel we’re essentially trying to erase history. For Christ’s sake, if a statue is the bane of your existence you need serious help.
His statue should always remain up for the sake of history. If we do not remember history, we are bound to repeat it. His statue serves as a reminder of his service to the United States during the Mexican American War, and an ultimate reminder of the second most important time in American history, regardless of whether he was wrong or not.
Just because you take away his statue does not mean you just eradicated all that he did and all he fought for. He was and is an integral part of history. Why do you think we learn about him throughout school? If this is all about slavery and racism, then we should be looking to take down statues and monuments dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, a slave-owner among other things.
Actually, let’s just rewrite the textbooks and act like he wasn’t the third President of the United States. As if he wasn't a principal founder of this country.
No one is condoning slavery (except the psycho white supremacists and neo-Nazis), but no one is blindly agreeing to take down history. If that statue was local to me, I’d be protesting its removal. Not because I support slavery of any sort, but because I believe in preserving history. I believe if we forget it we are going to repeat it. You can’t just wash away all that happened, and a statue sure is not the culprit.
We all know the Confederacy was wrong, but that doesn’t mean it did not exist. Leave his statue up. It's American history.
