The Cleansing of West Point
– By Ed Kociela –
The United States Military Academy at West Point is undergoing major housecleaning during the Christmas break.
Officials are cleansing the campus of all things related to Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate States Army who led Southern troops against Union forces during the Civil War.
Lee has an unquestionable connection to West Point.
He graduated from the school in 1829 and served in the United States Army for 32 years until he answered the traitorous call of the Confederates and took command of that army.
He was hailed as a gambling risk taker, but was a successful commander, leading Southern troops to surprising victories in battles in which they were outgunned and outmanned.
But, as they say in sports, he couldn’t win the big one and ended up handing over his sword in surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox.
Lee was enigmatic. Even the scholars can have a difficult time reading him and his seemingly contradictory positions on slavery and the Civil War.
One thing is for certain: He understood that the Confederacy was embarking on a traitorous path. Yet, he signed on to lead its troops.
He claimed to oppose slavery, but owned hundreds; claimed to believe in a Christian manner, but would whip his slaves whether men or women.
Yes, he had ties to West Point.
But, he also had ties to rebellion and treason.
He led rebel forces in a war against the United States based on slavery. This is not revisionist history, it is simply a statement of fact, something glossed over in the blur of dusty history and a lingering attachment to a version of the South that was not quite as romantic and glorious as it is portrayed to be.
That’s why Lee and all of the iconography associated with him must be removed from West Point with good reason.
Would we, for example, raise a statue of Osama bin Laden in the nation’s capitol?
Perhaps a memorial to members of the Third Reich?
How about a portrait of the Rosenbergs for the Capitol rotunda?
I don’t think so.
If you don’t realize that Robert E. Lee was in the same context, then you are glamorizing perhaps the worst period of United States history when families and neighbors killed each other over the right to enslave people because of the color of their skin.
Was there a distinctively unique aspect of the antebellum South lifestyle? Of course. It was marked by slavery, cotton and tobacco fields, a faux gentility novelized beyond proportion and reality. I mean Tara was one of the most famous GPS points in American literature and Katie Scarlett O’Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler one of its greatest characters. But the reality was an entirely different thing.
It was black slaves — male and female – being worked to death in the hot sun.
It was black slaves – male and female – being raped and beaten by savage plantation owners.
It was black slaves – male and female – being torn from their families in exchange for silver and gold.
There was no such thing as good treatment, fair treatment, compassionate treatment for the slaves because, in the end, they were owned by another human being without the right to move about freely, to earn a living, to work their own land. Instead they labored under the eye of their owners who sucked down Kentucky bourbon while their slaves worked the fields.
It was celebrated, even during my childhood.
I can remember being taken to downtown St. Louis for elementary school field trips and being shown where slaves were sold on the steps of the old county courthouse. There was no remorse, no penance, no regret, just the visual of more than 500 men, women, and children stripped down, under the lash, and sold to the sound of an auctioneer’s gavel.
It would be another 50 years or so before my ancestors migrated there, but the stench and rancid taste of racism remained persistent, poisoning the hearts and minds of the newcomers who, although slavery was long gone, held hatred in their hearts for people of color. Any color, as a matter of fact.
For me, that wheel of racism was broken by an astute, quiet, gentle sixth-grade teacher who taught us that the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Freedom Riders was important, that change was vital, that unless we fought for equality we were not standing for true freedom, liberty, and justice for all.
That’s not what Robert E. Lee signed on for when he agreed to lead the rebel forces.
And, that is why he should not receive the same honors and remembrance as true American heroes. As one of America’s military academies, where heroes are groomed, West Point should reflect true patriotism, service, honor. Robert E. Lee did none of that, leading troops into combat to tear down the nation.
But he became idealized when his likeness was allowed to adorn the academy. Just like Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, known as the Desert Fox for his brilliant tactics as commander of the Afrika Korps in North Africa, much can be learned from his philosophy, his strategy, his maneuvering on the field of battle. But, that does not mean we should erect statues to Rommel in the United States, either.
No, it is better that while we reserve a place in history for Lee, Rommel, and other brilliant military minds, we must also reserve our judgment and recognize them for what they were: enemy combatants whose efforts where to defeat the United States.
That means we relegate Lee to the same status as seditious groups like The Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys, and other groups who exist only to overthrow the government, as they attempted on Jan. 6, 2021.
They, like Lee, are not heroes and are undeserving of such honors.
Yes, they earned their page in the history books.
But, so did Adolph Hitler.
Viewpoints and perspectives expressed throughout The Independent are those of the individual contributors. They do not necessarily reflect those held by the staff of The Independent or our advertising sponsors. Your comments, rebuttals, and contributions are welcome in accordance with our Terms of Service. Please be respectful and abide by our Community Rules. If you have privacy concerns you can view our Privacy Policy here. Thank you!
Click here to submit an article, guest opinion piece, or a Letter to the Editor
