Aug 23, 2017 · 1 min read
As another Southern white male, I also grew up believing that General Lee exemplified the consummate gentleman, and I don’t disagree with anything you say. However, there is another side. The South lost the War; no other part of America has had that searing experience. Most everyone had friends and relatives who died; how do you retain your dignity when the winners tell you that you fought and died for an evil cause (which in truth it was)? The Confederate monuments had a racist aspect, no doubt, but that was far from the only motivation, and the emotional response to seeing them taken down is more complicated than simple racism.