Statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee being removed in Richmond, Virginia. Photo courtesy of Stripes.com
It’s not enough that the South lost the Civil War after four bloody, awful years and suffered the burning of cities, martial law and Reconstruction lasting for decades. Now the South, the former Confederacy, whose sons have willfully fought alongside its former enemies of the Union in numerous battles in World Wars in Europe, the Orient and more, is being told its people are “bad” for America and its personal memorial markers to lost veterans, loved family members, heroes and a tragic war are to be removed, desecrated and destroyed.
It’s a fact that most native Southern people are “traditionalists” who have been reared to honor church, family and country, to be respectful and kind to their neighbors of all colors and backgrounds. The South is famous for its “genteel” nature and the most famous preachers and evangelists have come straight from its ranks. “Southern Hospitality” is real.
Last year Broad Street was boarded-up after a second night of rioting and destruction in Richmond, Virginia.
While leftover anger against some African Americans after the Civil War leaving the South in poverty and stripped of all dignity certainly led to some abuses of African American citizens, these were largely corrected with the Civil Rights Act and the rise of programs like Affirmative Action and increasing government benefits to aid Black society. These efforts began nearly 60 years ago with advances in social justice for African Americans and gained ground across all the years. Today, African Americans can generally celebrate not only tremendous freedoms in America not afforded in many countries elsewhere but also great economic, political and cultural progress across America. There are Derek Chauvins in any society of all colors and ethnicities, but that does not mean they are not a small fraction of people out there.
To remove Confederate monuments across the South now, especially because of the death of one Black man at the hands of a policeman in Minnesota, is unfair and outrageous. Primarily, these monuments were erected to memorialize the men who lost their lives as soldiers, many of whom were buried in mass graves far from home. And yes, they were to honor the leaders of those men who also gave of themselves in the war, which is part of what defines the entire character of the South and its history, both good and not-so-good. The fact that one Black man’s death is made the cornerstone for removal of markers honoring the lives of a third of a million men in war is simply ridiculous. While we all abhor injustices against ALL human beings, the events that have led up to removal of the South’s historic markers amount to ethnic genocide—the attempt to destroy the culture and identity of an entire people.
Taliban destroys ancient art in their country. Is there really any difference between the Taliban and Black Lives Matter or Antifa who are doing the same thing in America?
The Taliban and Marxists have employed such tactics to destroy monuments they dislike in countries they control. In fact, with defeated countries like Iraq and Germany, we have seen monuments toppled and symbols removed. To compare the South to Nazi Germany is totally wrong—the South never sent millions to gas chambers. And even if you believe the United States should oversee the removal of monuments or symbols in other countries, do you REALLY believe it’s all right to use these tactics against your own countrymen who have fought and still fight alongside you in wars against OTHER nations? This is very dangerous ideology and certainly helps lead to such events as the January 6th Push on the U.S. Capitol. For how can people who are expected to fight WITH you be openly treated like they are “trash” and “bad guys,” without feelings or value?
There are more honest reasons why the South is being now targeted by many groups for such tactics as monument removals. Here are some underlying causes to consider: (1) The South is an “easy target” like an older or weak person might be to a criminal; (2) Anti-Southern groups know that the South lost before, so what can we do against them?; (3) As people believe that slavery was an awful institution—though even in the Civil War, the vast majority of those forced to fight did not own slaves–, Southerners MUST always be silent in the face of this horrible moral flaw and can never fight back; (4) As the issue centers on race, there is automatically a pool of loyal anti-Southern black citizens that can be used by BLM and Marxist leaders to indoctrinate, while whites are more generally split in loyalty between Northern and Southern groups–”Divide and Conquer”; (5) Other groups who feel “weak” in America can join together with BLM and Marxist leaders to strengthen themselves—for example, a large Catholic college has a supposed “slave auction rock” on display in its narthex to stir anti-Southern sentiment because it is largely itself a minority in the South which feels threatened; (6) Wolves, sharks and mobs of people will attack at the first sign of fear, often, or at first blood, so mobs not kept under control can and have torn down, destroyed and murdered the most sacred or gentlest people in the world. Look at Jesus.
Lisa Carol Rudisill, M.T.S., is a magna cum laud graduate of NC State University and Liberty University where she earned a Master of Theology. She writes novels about her family history during the Civil War in North and South Carolina. She is a freelance writer, editorialist and a contributor to The Standard newspaper.
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