"General Lee Statue removed?" Topic

Pretty sure that I tried to say that several pages ago. The problem is that the topic itself is both politically loaded and emotionally charged. The train wreck was expected.

Pretty sure that I tried to say that several pages ago. The problem is that the topic itself is both politically loaded and emotionally charged. The train wreck was expected.

I don't think the op – Tango – intended it be that. It's certainly a reasonable question for anyone outside of the US to ask. The reactions certainly seem to indicated that Civil War happened within the last 30 years and the result isn't accepted.

Nicht meine Affen, nicht mein Zirkus.

Well, I found much of it to be interesting and informative.

The end, my medal from the reenactment of the surrender at Appomattox said "the end this was the best bit" thank goodness.

t's certainly a reasonable question for anyone outside of the US to ask. The reactions certainly seem to indicated that Civil War happened within the last 30 years and the result isn't accepted.

I guess where you stand depends on where you sit. From outside the US, the whole matter seems rather curious, and, in no small way, incomprehensible. If you're raised in any area other than the South, you have a different, probably more measured view. But if you were raised in the South during the last days of Jim Crow, segregation, and the 'Lost Cause', then you have a very different (and probably more emotional) view. I fall in the last.

Bottomline is that its a local matter. With local people making decisions about what kind of imagery they want in their public spaces. Some may not agree. But unless you live there, you (and I) really don't have a say…

American citizen. Confederate descendent. The Civil War was ginned up by both sides imho. Remember Lincoln's call for troops before Virginia's secession. Rightly afraid of a federal invasion of a sovereign state so they went out of the Union. But there was no need for four years of savage fighting. Should have been stopped and the slavery issue settled. Virginia suffers to this day because of past policies of discrimination, poverty, and lack of economic development especially in rural areas. The federal government in Washington and Hampton Roads provides tens of thousands with jobs in Virginia which includes me. My ancestors were mainly farmers, laborers, stone masons, horse breeders etc, a very agrarian society for a long time.
So not a great war, but it happened. To erase it by destroying statues, please correct me if I'm wrong, seems to be a tactic of the Marxist. Some of the demonstrators are Marxists. Some are white supremacists. Neither group has the right to desecrate our history. Men performed their duties in the armies under great duress and sacrifice. Many came home to nothing. The upper class allowed the segregation for their own purposes and many citizens were used by them. So now we can say goodbye to all of that. But our history needs to remain as a lesson to what could happen if we are not careful. Why does it need to be hidden?
Why is everything offensive and needs to be shielded from sight? My belief is it keeps people down and weak and shielded from some of the harsh realities of life that need to be faced so that we can mature and grow properly and not remain under anybody else's thumb. While we tear ourselves apart with some of these issues, that often suddenly appear out of the blue, there are others who plot our downfall even as we speak.