Learning from the Civil War

Bonnie Lindsey’s Aug. 31 letter defends Confederate statues in general and Robert E. Lee in particular. She hails Lee as a West Point graduate and Mexican war hero with a history of service to his country. She then advises that we need to remember the past and learn truth from it instead of destroying art.

All well and good except for one striking omission. Here’s the truth: Robert E. Lee was a traitor. He took up arms against his country, and that is the textbook definition of treason. He betrayed his country, fought against it, and lost. These are not acts of heroism, deserving of statues. These are acts of a man who misplaced his loyalty, threw in his lot with the defenders of slavery, and wound up on the wrong side of humanity and history. And this is why the statues need to come down.

Don’t think the Civil War was fought over slavery? I suggest you check the Articles of Secession of each of the Confederate states. And yes, while many of our founding fathers were slave owners, and the country they created was flawed by this evil, they were never traitors — except, of course, to the English. They built our country, they did not attempt to tear it apart.

As Ms. Lindsey advises, we need to know the truth and learn from it.

This story was originally published September 21, 2017 at 1:41 PM with the headline "Learning from the Civil War."