Any Cause Will Do

The news has been filled with articles regarding the protests in Charlottesville. Even our small weekly newspaper, two hours drive from Charlottesville, has been inundated with emails on the possible removal of the statue of Robert E. Lee from Charlottesville. Everything I have received has been from out of Virginia.

This is just another case of radicals ON BOTH SIDES looking for a cause.

Although I am a big fan of Lee and would hate to see his statue removed in the name of political correctness, it is not my fight. I’ve never seen that statue. I am not a taxpayer of nor do I live in Charlottesville. It is none of my business.  A friend of mine often says, “Not my circus, not my monkeys.” In this case, “Not my park, not my statue.”

Lee happens to be one of my personal heroes. After much reading of history I would summarize Lee as one of the few who believed “do what you believe is right, give it all you have and accept the consequences with grace.”

I have a large framed picture of Lee in my living room as a reminder of history and of maintaining a personal code of ethics and living by it. That being said I do not have and have never flown a Confederate battle flag or the bastardized rectangular version of it.

Supporters of Confederate history have allowed the radicals to co-opt the battle flag.  Now the radicals are attempting to co-opt General Lee. History clearly shows Robert E. Lee would not have supported the white supremacists nor would he have allowed them to align themselves with him.

I have a theory that the money and resources spent by the United States to “preserve the union” would have purchased and freed every slave in America without a war.

Had that happened there would have been no war, no reconstruction, no Jim Crow laws, no statues and no movement to remove history.

Every time there is a terrorist attack by a Muslim we hear, “Why don’t the moderate Muslims condemn the act and speak up?”

That is a valid question.  It is also a valid question in this case.

These white supremacists do not speak for me. I find them reprehensible. They do not represent me or for that matter any of the Sons or Daughters of the Confederacy that I know. Neither do the counter protesters speak for me. I find them equally disgusting.  I am willing to bet that not one person I consider a friend attended that rally on either side with the exception of some police officers who were put in a terrible situation.  Had the counter protesters ignored the rally it would have fizzed out.

What should happen in a case like this is cordon off the protesters and counter-protesters and let them sort it out. Protect the public but let those who choose to create a dangerous situation enter at their own risk. Why should our law enforcement be put at risk in a case like this?

On the other hand, why is anyone devoting time and money to remove a 100-year-old statue that is part of our history? Removing it will change nothing. Wouldn’t it be better to spend your time and money in actually improving someone’s life?

This is another case of symbolism instead of substance. By attacking a symbol you get to be in the news and don’t have to actually deal with the people you claim to represent.

It is like having a banquet to discuss world hunger and then passing a resolution against hunger without feeding a single needy person.