Yeah, Robert E Lee gets a white-washed history from the Redeemers. He still should get judged by the opinion of his contemporaries and the context of his time, and he was still picked as the embodiment of national reconciliation. That absolutely does not mean racial reconciliation, because the majority of the nation was racist at the time.
I'm not going to shed any tears if Southern states decide to tear down all these statues. He's hardly a national hero. But he's also hardly the most evil man of his time period, so I don't particularly care if they choose to pay respects for someone who fought for his people, especially if its a measured respect. Historical cultural icons are not people who are morally pure, and few cultures are going to pick the other side in a war, regardless of the relevant moral distinctions. Like, we celebrate the Mexican-American War and the Texas Independence War, even though Mexico banned slavery and the US didn't. And, no, you don't get to claim that some people in the US banned slaves or that we eventually banned slaves: we had slaves, they didn't, and we root for our side because we root for our side.
I'm not going to shed any tears if Southern states decide to tear down all these statues. He's hardly a national hero. But he's also hardly the most evil man of his time period, so I don't particularly care if they choose to pay respects for someone who fought for his people, especially if its a measured respect. Historical cultural icons are not people who are morally pure, and few cultures are going to pick the other side in a war, regardless of the relevant moral distinctions. Like, we celebrate the Mexican-American War and the Texas Independence War, even though Mexico banned slavery and the US didn't. And, no, you don't get to claim that some people in the US banned slaves or that we eventually banned slaves: we had slaves, they didn't, and we root for our side because we root for our side.
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