No Lincoln Statue...EVER!

dixieinternet.com ^ | 03_02_03 | A Review By T.E. Compton

[The Other Harry]

Revising the heritage of the South to suit comtemporary standards really is dishonest. There is no way that a statue of Lincoln belongs there.

That does not mean that I don't respect him or what he did, or that I wish a return to the days of slavery. All it means is that a statue like that does not belong there.

[alloysteel]

It rather saddens me, that the 16th President is still so reviled and despised in certain regions, that no depiction is even allowed. The Civil War was over nearly 138 years ago, and even the last surviving Confederate veteran widow has died. No one with a personal animus against Abraham Lincoln remains alive.

Whole generations can and have changed their perceptions about Honest Abe. For 65 years, those Americans of African descent who had the right to vote, voted almost solidly for Republicans at every level, solely because of their love and admiration for President Lincoln. Only with the social revolution of the New Deal were those patterns altered. If there is a President who should be hated and reviled, it is FDR. Not because he changed the voting patterns of Americans of African origin, but because he hid behind a lie to do it.

[TheDon]

Hopefully the Dixie wannabe revisionists will be ignored for the fringe group they are.

[latrans]

The Civil War is the saddest chapter in our history.
The South was defeated. Why further humiliate them?
Being a Southerner doesn't mean pro slavery.

[homeagain balkansvet]

Who would you prefer? Colonel Wertz?

{{sound of spitting on floor}}

[Arkinsaw]

My fellow Southerners would be much better off opening their mouths to say something good about General Lee instead of spending so much effort trying to tear Lincoln down.

[The Other Harry]

It rather saddens me, that the 16th President is still so reviled and despised in certain regions, that no depiction is even allowed...

This is emphatically *not* true.

What is happening in the South is that history is getting re-written.

[Corin Stormhands]

I had two great-grandfathers who fought for the Confederacy, so I'm a legitimate "son" of the Confederacy (small s because I'm not a member of the group)

In one sense I really don't have a problem with a statue of Lincoln here in Richmond.

BUT, the ONLY reason this came about is NOT for historical reasons, but for political correctness and for trashing the south. Regardless of what one thinks of Lincoln or the south, that much is clear.

This statue is supposed to be controversial. It is supposed to re-write history.

[billbears]

The historical record is replete with examples, of what can only be termed as war crimes, committed against the civilian population (Black and White) of cities, like Richmond, all over the South, under Lincoln's direction as commander and chief of the Union army.

Dixie ping!!

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I dunno - if the South can't ditch the idea of emotionally hanging onto Confederate symbols, flags and monuments and giving secessionist ancestors great honor while telling blacks that slavery was 140 years ago and they should "get over it" (not to mention that they never could seem to do the right thing and end legal segregation - which ended only in my lifetime), then maybe it needs to get slapped in the face.

[kaboom]

Revising the heritage of the South to suit comtemporary standards really is dishonest. There is no way that a statue of Lincoln belongs there.

And if we we respect tradition, then we should really ban all Confederate flags from public display because they were the looooosers.(/biting sarcasm)

I think that Lincoln should have a presence at every significant Civil War in much the same manner that I hope that both the Union and Confederate flags are displayed. It is our history, so get over it.

[My2Cents]

From Lincoln's second inaugural address:

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

From what I understand, the Lincoln statue is intended to convey this principle of reconciliation, which would seem to be a good thing for many southners who still hang on to antipathy to Lincoln and the North for the South's defeat in the Civil War. It's well past the time to get over it. If the emotional wounds of defeat that are now almost 140 years old cannot be healed by reflection on the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, then focus on his words and intent to bring reconciliation between the regions in the aftermath of the war, and let this statue convey that spirit of reconciliation.

[WhiskeyPapa]

bump

[Non-Sequitur]

From what I understand, the Lincoln statue is intended to convey this principle of reconciliation...

How can you reconcile with people who have no desire to do so? The can't stand the idea that they lost and the Union was preserved. They get up on their hind legs and howl about the Lincoln statue in Richmond and then get all huffy if the confederate flag is banned from a tee shirt in Pittsburg. Well, if Lincoln doesn't belong in Virginia then why does the flag of the rebellion belong in Pennsylvania?

[Non-Sequitur]

The only war crimes committed in Richmond were done by the Davis regime, billbears. You people can't even get your rants historically correct.

[not-an-ostrich]

I also would like to see them ignored. Best course is to ignore the wackos. Giving them a voice here on Free Republic just validates.

[My2Cents]

How can you reconcile with people who have no desire to do so?

You speak a sad truth. I know the attitude you speak of. I suppose that if this attitude was expressed by someone who was involved in the Civil War, who perhaps lost loved ones, lost property, or otherwise directly suffered some loss in that conflict, I could understand this attitude. But the Civil War has been over for almost 140 years. Some folks won't get over it. Their attitude reminds me of the Serbs and the Kosovars who have been at each other's throats for 1600 years -- and for what? To what end?

They hate Lincoln because they love to hate. It's as simple as that. And there's no reasoning with them. What's the Bible verse? -- "The sins of the father will be visited unto the fourth generation", something of that sort. I suppose this coercive attitude of today's flag-waving Confederate won't be purged until the fifth generation after the shooting stopped.

[Willie Green]

The proposed placement of the Lincoln statue in Richmond has been, we believe, correctly called "a slap in the face" to the people of the South.

Neo-confederates need to have their faces slapped silly anyway.
They lost the Civil War close to 140 years ago.
This is the 21st Century, they need to "put some ice on it" and get over it.
Same thing goes for the whacknut "reparations" crowd.
The doggone numnutz are stuck living in the past.

[TomSmedley]

The Civil War is the saddest chapter in our history. The South was defeated. Why further humiliate them?

When I visited Kiev in 1992, discussion was afoot about the fate of the Brezhnev monument, "Hag/Crone with Sword." This stainless steel monument to bad taste lifted her sword above the subjugated Ukrainians. Back then, some folks thought she should be melted down and turned into tablewear.

Raping, looting, and occupying your neighbors is not praiseworthy. Rubbing their noses in it is definitely "ne culturny"