Everyone has heard about the terrorist attack in Charlottesville, VA, where Neo Nazis and the KKK were protesting that cities decision to remove a statue of Confederate General Lee. I applaud Charlottesville's decision to remove that statue, and West Virginia should remove the statue of General Jackson on the Capitol grounds as well. Heres why:
1. All the officers in the Confederate Army, who left the US Army, broke their oaths to the United States of America. They betrayed their country in order to defend the institution of slavery, the biggest stain on American history, and killed American soldiers, sailors and Marines, 642,427 courageous men fighting for their country to be exact. See the national parks service address for more. According to Esquire magazine, the following is the oath that all graduating West Point cadets swear to when becoming a US Army officer prior to the Civil War: "In 1836, he (General Lee and General Jackson later) went to West Point, to become an Army officer. He graduated, twelfth in his class in 1840. The oath he swore went like this: "I, _____, appointed a _____ in the Army of the United States, do solemnly swear, or affirm, that I will bear true allegiance to the United States of America, and that I will serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies or opposers whatsoever, and observe and obey the orders of the President of the United States, and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the rules and articles for the government of the Armies of the United States." These US Army officers who became Confederate Officers ARE TRAITORS AND OATH BREAKERS. They do not deserve a statue or place of honor. For more on how these Confederate officers are traitors, use the esquire address below and read more.
2. I've already mentioned point 2, but here I'm going to reiterate, these traitors defended slavery. Defending slavery = evil. They do not deserve a statue, or a place of honor. They certainly dont deserve to have schools named after them (I'm looking at you Stonewall Jackson Middle school.) This point seems like a no-brainer, but this particular point gets glossed over by people who want to fly the Confederate flag, and by many of those who support the statues. Nobody wants to think of their heroes as evil, but if you look up to these traitors, its true. More on this glossing over later. If you have questions regarding how bad slavery can be, I personally thought that the book "12 years a slave" was amazing/horrific. Its also a movie, you can rent it on Amazon.com. I dont think I should have to explain how bad slavery was, and am not sure that the confines of this blog article would do it justice. Theres also a museum in D.C. , the National Museum of African History and Culture, that you can go to. I havent yet, but the next time I'm in D.C., I'm going to. See the address below for more.
So, we've established that these statues should come down, but, often, people will say what good will it do? You cant change the past. Its true, you cant change the past. We can help effect the future. Imagine you are African American, growing up in America. What must it be like to see these evil men, who wanted to keep you a slave, celebrated with statues, and parks/streets/military bases/schools named after them? I would imagine it would make some people feel like a foreigner in a strange land. As though, the country did not care for you. As if you were alienated in the country in which you were born (maybe thats why the statues are there?). If we truly want to have equal rights amongst all of our citizens, then we have to start looking like we are equal (taking the statues down), then after that maybe we can act equal (incarceration rates differ amongst races, thats a problem) and after that, maybe we can BE a society that treats its citizens equal. Now, this is not the final step towards equality. After the 13th amendment passed, the slaves were freed. Thats great, but ofcourse, African Americans were far from being treated equally as other white citizens. Then came the 15th amendment, and African American men were allowed to vote. Then came the 19th amendment and women are allowed to vote. Then in the 60s the civil rights movement. We are getting closer all the time to equality, and removing these statues/confederate flag/confederate names from our society is next in line. “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” - MLK jr.
I have said here in this article that the confederacy was an evil thing, but you should not equate that evil with the people, the citizens who fly the confederate flag today, or who support the keeping of these statues (ofcourse the neo nazis and KKK are evil, but the majority of people arent). I have to make a full disclosure here, there was a not so distant time in my life, where I had these misguided views on the confederacy. I, like these others, thought that General Lee and General Jackson weren't really that bad, and they only supported their states, not slavery, etc. etc. Why did I feel this way? I had done some family genealogical research and found that one of my ancestors had fought for the south. I thought that surely my family couldnt have fought for the wrong side, the side that fought for slavery? So, I convinced myself that the confederacy was alright. That it wasnt as bad as all that. We can fool ourselves into believing a lot of things. Our culture doesnt exactly help, as a kid I loved the Dukes of Hazard, their car was called the General Lee and had a rebel flag on it! Surely the Duke boys werent bad. If you've ever read any of Jeff Shaara's books on the civil war, or any of the movies based on those books, you wouldnt know who the true villains are. Slavery is hardly mentioned. (you shouldnt blame Jeff Shaara or the Duke boys either) Southern culture completely separates the cause of the Civil War (slavery) and its military exploits. Why? I think its a feeling of guilt, that the south has suppressed, that has followed the south for generations. Just my opinion though.
I would go to different civil war battlefields and spend hours there trying to figure out if my ancestors unit was there (36th Virginia Infantry). Until one day, I went to Manassas battlefield, and was reading about how the US Marines had fought there, and some had died. I'm a Marine veteran myself, and I do cherish all those who serve, not just Marines, but this particular battlefield had a real effect on me. This brought up a truth that I had been suppressing, you cant gloss over the atrocity that was the confederacy forever. I dont know why my ancestor fought for the Confederacy, but it doesnt matter, he fought to defend slavery, whether or not that was his motivation, and he was wrong to do so. Eventually, I sold many of my books on the civil war, the ones who glorified the war and glossed over the causes. I took down my General Lee trinkets, and I realized my error. A lot of my fellow West Virginians feel the same way that I used to, as do many others from other southern states. Again, I dont think you could call the Rebel flag/statue supporters all racist. I hope that more people who are under the romanticized illusion of the confederacy will realize their mistake one day. Maybe, through polite conversation, others can help these misguided individuals to find the truth.
What can be done? How can you help make West Virginia/America a little bit closer to a society that behaves like it believes in equality for all? One small way is to sign this petition here https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/gov-justice-remove-slaveowner-statue-from-capitol-grounds Its a petition to remove Stonewall Jackson statue from the West Virginia capitol grounds. I did some light background check, it seems be legit. You can also either email, or call our representatives in the US Congress/WV Legislature and ask them to remove these statues to men who dont deserve the honor. Look at the picture below, its like we have a statue to Darth Vader.
Also, just a word of caution, DONT TEAR THESE STATUES DOWN YOURSELF! Thats dangerous, you could hurt yourself or others, and you will likely be arrested. See the CNN link below for more.
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a24208/what-an-oath-means/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2024544/
https://nmaahc.si.edu/slavery-and-freedom
https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/facts.htm
https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/13th-amendment
https://www.nps.gov/mana/index.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/14/us/confederate-statue-pulled-down-north-carolina-trnd/index.html
