Posted on 04/25/2007 10:11:37 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur
Winston Churchill called him "one of the noblest Americans who ever lived," and Theodore Roosevelt called him "the very greatest of all the great captains that the English-speaking peoples have brought forth." But has political correctness turned Robert E. Lee into a villain? That will be the question explored by six historians this weekend at a symposium commemorating the bicentennial of the Confederate commander's birth. "We were afraid that Lee would not receive the honors he should get because of the prevailing political correctness," says Brag Bowling, a Richmond resident who helped organize Saturday's event at the Key Bridge Marriott Hotel in Arlington. The symposium will be the largest event of its kind this year honoring Lee, who was born Jan. 19, 1807.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
There is a long tradition of all Americans honoring both North and South. That is a good tradition and should be continued. It doesn’t make the South right. It just means that all were Americans before, and after. (Of course I just set off a firestorm among the confederates here at FR who will lecture us on how the south WAS right...which only illustrates the point that we need to honor both sides...not just the South, or not just the North).
I think you have it backwards - it is the “North was right” crowd that is always trying to stop any attempt to honor Confederate heritage that is the problem.
I wish they would “try” Sherman. Lee was a role model for us all.
ping
Churchill was right.
And I’m a native of the Land of Lincoln and a Son of Union Veterans, who likes his history pc-free.
Dixie ping
hmmm...I have had many a fiery debate here on how and why the South was wrong and believe it or not, some here have eloquently (but mistakenly) defended Southern slavery as not all that bad and that certainly it was no worse than Greco-Roman slavery (which is wrong). And they also use what they believe to be a Biblical argument, as well.
So, while no doubt many a Yank is still trying to impose Reconstruction here, there is many a Rebel here still trying to justify the undefensible.
At the end of the day, by the time of the Civil War, the tragedy was unavoidable and the best path forward was the one mapped out by Lincoln at the end of the war. He didn’t quite live long enough, however, to see it happen.
(Here come the Lincoln haters now....).
Agree with that. DiLorenzo just uses figures like Lee to push his kooky Libertarian propaganda.
And the premise "villain or noblest ever" is seriously flawed. Lee was neither.
I have not seen much honoring of the South among non-Southerners in my lifetime.
I have been here a while, I make a point of clicking on threads concerning the South, and I have never seen anyone on FR defend slavery in any way, shape or form.
ping!
There is a powerful insight into the character of
Robert Edward Lee. I have read that he was not charged with even one demerit during his time at West Point. Usually first year cadets get a few demerits only because they screw up out of ignorance. It is also a tribute to him, at the time, that when he handed his sword to U.S. Grant, Grant immediatly returned it. It is a hard thing to take, now, that his stature is being questioned when his character was so well illuminated and esteemed IN HIS TIME.
And I’m a native of the Land of Lincoln and a Son of Union Veterans, who likes his history pc-free.
Well here's one Son of Confederate Veterans who agrees with you entirely about Churchill's remark and about pc history. The 1860s were an important and tragic time for our nation and much can be learned from clear-eyed appraisal of the events and figures of that era.
Here’s another SCV who agrees!!!
I’ve been to Lee’s home in Virginia. It’s a small house, but with a wonderful view................and the neighbors are some of the best and brightest in America..........
On the other hand, the state’s rights issue is still a major issue. The rampant Federalism we see today is a direct descendant of that conflict and the methods used to end it. The red state/blue state conflict of today is reminiscent of those times as well.
I had family on both sides of The War, and see the convoluted truth on both sides.
I could say the same concerning the North from the Southerners around here.
Here’s one that ought to PO the Yankees out there....
Lee’s home is now the greatest and most hallowed shrine in ALL of the DC area...............
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