Move the statues to museums. This would not be surrender or re-writing history. These confederates were not traitors, but slavery was a rotten cause. And what about the memory of the union soldiers who died at the hands of the confederates? Bottom line: a statue of man who fought for slavery is no better than a statue of, say, Lenin.
My initial post confused was inted to reply about the statues rather than the forts, but the reasoning is the same.
It is a surrender. They put pressure and you negotiate. The only acceptable answer is ‘No!’
Conservatives always think they win when the left demands something and they accept the premise but ask for something slightly different.
If you must negotiate then one confederate statue for each MLK statue. I could almost go for that deal. Although learning from the left why not just demand the removal of MLK statues with no deal.
“Bottom line: a statue of man who fought for slavery is no better than a statue of, say, Lenin.”
Bottom line is that there is very little evidence the majority of Confederate soldiers fought for slavery; very few were slave owners and probably didn’t care much more about this issue than the majority of Union soldiers.
But I am not trying to divert this thread to a WBTS argument. The point is the Left is always “demanding” this and that and the Right all too frequently gives in.
The Left strikes when the iron is hot, like big pushes for gun control right after a school shooting or some other tragedy. Right now, the Left is pushing hard and fast to erase history. At the next opportunity they seize upon, it will be pushing some other issue that is dear to their totalitarian hearts.
One of those in Portland, OR and in no danger of being toppled.
The past is never certain.
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” ~Ronald Reagan
Nobody was fighting “for” slavery. Slavery was not threatened in the US. If anybody thought it was, Lincoln championed and got the Corwin Amendment passed by the Northern dominated Congress and signed by the president. This would have explicitly protected slavery effectively forever in the US constitution. He again endorsed it in his inaugural address.
In addition to that, the US Congress passed an express resolution declaring they were not fighting over slavery....indeed, both sides had slaves.
That is an interesting comment.
Here's what a real antifa member said:
Dear Dr. Scott:
Respecting your August 1 inquiry calling attention to my often expressed admiration for General Robert E. Lee, I would say, first, that we need to understand that at the time of the War between the States the issue of secession had remained unresolved for more than 70 years. Men of probity, character, public standing and unquestioned loyalty, both North and South, had disagreed over this issue as a matter of principle from the day our Constitution was adopted.
General Robert E. Lee was, in my estimation, one of the supremely gifted men produced by our Nation. He believed unswervingly in the Constitutional validity of his cause which until 1865 was still an arguable question in America; he was a poised and inspiring leader, true to the high trust reposed in him by millions of his fellow citizens; he was thoughtful yet demanding of his officers and men, forbearing with captured enemies but ingenious, unrelenting and personally courageous in battle, and never disheartened by a reverse or obstacle. Through all his many trials, he remained selfless almost to a fault and unfailing in his faith in God. Taken altogether, he was noble as a leader and as a man, and unsullied as I read the pages of our history.
From deep conviction, I simply say this: a nation of men of Lee’s calibre would be unconquerable in spirit and soul. Indeed, to the degree that present-day American youth will strive to emulate his rare qualities, including his devotion to this land as revealed in his painstaking efforts to help heal the Nation’s wounds once the bitter struggle was over, we, in our own time of danger in a divided world, will be strengthened and our love of freedom sustained.
Such are the reasons that I proudly display the picture of this great American on my office wall.
Sincerely,
Dwight D. Eisenhower