Dear Trump,
Do you know what it means to commemorate people like Robert E. Lee? Using rhetoric that aligns with the phrase, “It was the times,” is completely irrelevant and ignorant, nor does it take away the many atrocities this man and others like him committed. Robert E. Lee actively participated in the oppression and enslavement of Black people. May I remind you that he was the leader of the Confederate Army (you know, the people that so badly wanted slavery to exist that they went to war and killed thousands of people for it?)
Robert E. Lee described slavery as a necessary evil for Black people because it would help discipline them (Serwer). What’s even worse than his rhetoric is that when Robert E. Lee owned slaves, he purposely split up families and sent them to separate plantations (Serwer). (Does this sound familiar to you?) Not to mention that he also physically abused his slaves by beating them (Serwer). Robert E. Lee so badly believed in slavery that he was willing to go to war and cause hundreds of thousands of deaths. Even when it was apparent that the South was going to lose to the North in the Civil War, he continued to fight because of his beliefs supporting slavery (Serwer). These acts of his are reprehensible and can never be forgiven and especially will never be forgotten.
Why should we commemorate men that had slaves?
Why should we commemorate men that went to war, so they could continue having slaves?
Why should we commemorate men who were not heroes but, in actuality, White Supremacists?
Stop making excuses for their actions and perpetuating the idea that “it was the times,” when there were clearly people of their time actively trying to end slavery and end the oppression of people of color: Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglas, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Elijah Lovejoy, Lucy Stone, Solomon Northup, David Walker, the list goes on. We need statues commemorating the people who were actively trying to end slavery, not perpetuate it.
Works Cited
Serwer, Adam. “The Myths of the Kindly General Lee.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 4 Jun. 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/the-myth-of-the-kindly-general-lee/529038/.
