Discussion: Jefferson Davis Statue At University Of Texas Defaced: 'Emancipate UT'

[dommyluc]

Every goddamned statue and monument erected in tribute to these traitorous Confederate motherfuckers should be melted down and turned into manhole covers.

[thunderclapnewman]

Why do you want to deny American history?

[lonewolf_93]

I wonder if there are German universities debating putting up memorials celebrating Hitler and the Nazi party? What’s the difference?

[midnight_rambler]

No, if he hadn’t be president of the Confederacy, he would be totally forgotten except for a handful of extreme history buffs. He was no Henry Clay; his other positions don’t distinguish him from a hundred or more other politicians of the day who are unknown to almost everyone. Does anyone remember the other Senator from Mississippi who served alongside him, or James Buchanan’s Secretary of War?

[midnight_rambler]

There’s a big difference between denying the Confederacy existed, and celebrating it and its leaders as what should have been. It’s the ones who put up Davis and Lee as heroes who are denying history.

[dddinah]

Pssst, ‘THE SOUTH IS DEAD’

[horrido]

@skippykaos

Let’s not forget that we all honor and glorify slave-owning rebels … who fought the British.

He was a traitor. That was his biggest sin. We shoot traitors, not honor them.

[occamsrazor2]

That diversity of opinion is what the Constitution protects.

[occamsrazor2]

I believe there is a statue of Benedict Arnold on the grounds of the Saratoga (NY) battlefield site. West Point and spots along the Connecticut coast, I’ll grant you.

[jb1234]

Jefferson Davis led a force that attacked the United States of America and killed her citizens; soldiers and civilians alike. Why not memorialize Timothy McVeigh? His acts were just as heinous on a smaller scale and motivated by similar sentiments.

[thunderclapnewman]

@midnight_rambler

It’s the ones who put up Davis and Lee as heroes who are denying history.

I’ll give you that about Davis.

But Rob’t E. Lee was respected and admired by his Union opponents, and by Lincoln as well.
He was a man of great personal honor and only fought for the Confederacy because he was a Virginian through and through, and like so many men of his time, his state came first for him.

His family is inextricably intertwined with the founding of the nation and the fight for independence.
He was also related by marriage to George Washington—the Custis-Lee mansion in Arlington was his home, and the military cemetery was put there solely to rob him of his ancestral home.
He never complained, and never tried to reclaim it.

He became the president of Washington College after the Civil War, and it was renamed Washington and Lee University because he was such a revered figure at the school.

The Civil War cannot be intelligently treated in black/white terms.
It’s very complicated, and no one on either side is all good or all bad.

[thunderclapnewman]

@Jb1234

Jefferson Davis led a force that attacked the United States of America and killed her citizens; soldiers and civilians alike. Why not memorialize Timothy McVeigh? His acts were just as heinous on a smaller scale and motivated by similar sentiments.

That is without question the single most specious and ridiculous comparison I’ve seen outside the Tea Party.

[frankly_my_dear]

@OccamsRazor2

I believe there is a statue of Benedict Arnold on the grounds of the Saratoga (NY) battlefield site.

It’s not a statue of Arnold, but a monument to his wounded leg:

The Boot Monument at Saratoga

There are various plaques here and there acknowledging Arnold’s contributions to the nascent American nation. They are history, as is his treason.

[occamsrazor2]

Yes, thank you. It’s been 30 years since I visited the site. In my neck of the woods, Arnold is commemorated for building a small fleet of gunboats and confronting the British Army sailing south on Lake Champlain at the Battle of Valcour Island. It was a tactical loss for Arnold, but a strategic victory also, since his resistance convinced the British to delay their campaign to capture Lake Champlain, Lake George and Albany. When the British tried again the next year, the Americans were better prepared to confront them, hence the victory at Saratoga, also due in large measure to Arnold’s leadership.

[joelopines]

@ThunderclapNewman

But Rob’t E. Lee was respected and admired by his Union opponents, and by Lincoln as well.He was a man of great personal honor and only fought for the Confederacy because he was a Virginian through and through, and like so many men of his time, his state came first for him.

So the story goes. But there are other perspectives.

http://tinyurl.com/lz9ntmk

[valgalky23]

Thank you for knowing some real history. So many people today are arm chair warriors when it comes to history. You cannot judge a person who lived 150+ years ago by today’s standards. One of the most fascinating books I’ve read regarding CW history is by William C. “Jack” Davis, “Jefferson Davis, The Man & His Hour.” Jack is one of our country’s best historians and one of our greatest writers and no relation to Jefferson Davis.

[valgalky23]

I can play this game with you all day long.

[thunderclapnewman]

That’s a minority viewpoint.

[reddy6ue]

But it’s the right one. Traitors need to be treated like traitors. Especially those who fought for such a loathsome cause.

[pearlywhite]

“The fact that the state of Texas joined the Confederate States of America is history. It happened,” he said. “It’s not a matter of opinion.”

Funny, as most every Republiclown considers all of history to be a matter of opinion… unless it happens to be in their favor…