[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 12-28-2023).]

[This message has been edited by BingB (edited 12-29-2023).]

[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 12-28-2023).]

[This message has been edited by olejoedad (edited 12-29-2023).]

quote Originally posted by olejoedad: Arlington National Cemetery was the home of Robert E. Lee. He donated it to the Federal Government after the Civil War, specifically to be used as a cemetery for fallen American soldiers. Many of the Union and Confederate Generals studied together prior to the Civil War, knew each other and were friends. Many struggled with the decision to stay loyal to the US Army, or to serve their States. It was a different time, and States rights were paramount over allegiance to the Nation. Even though they fought on different sides, they were all Americans, fighting for what they believed in, which was prodominatly States rights. The Memorial should stay.

Robert E. Lee and his wife inherited the Custis estate in 1857, just a few years before the first shots of the Civil War were fired. The Custis estate was comprised by an imposing Greek Revival-style mansion that became known as Arlington House, and the surrounding land that would become part of Arlington National Cemetery.

It is misleading to say that Robert E. Lee "donated" the land for Arlington National Cemetery to the federal government after the Civil War.

This brief history, which is posted on the Arlington National Cemetery official website, tells a different story:
https://www.arlingtoncemete...tery/Arlington-House

Here's some "skinny" on the Confederate Memorial which is in the process of being removed from the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery:

quote The bronze statue—designed by American sculptor Moses Jacob Ezekiel and unveiled in 1914—depicts a woman atop a 32-foot-tall pedestal. The figure is wearing a crown adorned with olive leaves, holding a laurel wreath, a plow stock and a pruning hook, according to the cemetery. A Biblical inscription at her feet reads, “They have beat their swords into plough-shares and their spears into pruning hooks.” Other figures on the monument include a Black woman depicted as a “Mammy,” carrying an infant of a White officer, and a Black man following his owner to war, according to the cemetery. Though the monument’s bronze elements [are] to be removed, its granite base and foundation [are] to [remain] at the site [at least for the more immediate future] to avoid disturbing surrounding graves, cemetery officials [have] said.

This is the garish, Jim Crow-era monument to the national, and particularly the Southern States spirit of White Supremacy that upended Reconstruction after the Civil War—a loathsome specimen of "Lost Cause," Confederacy-themed kitsch if ever there was one!

The federal judge whose rulings are expediting this long overdue task of "taking out the garbage" is Rossie David Alston, Jr. He's making these sage and savvy calls as a U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia. He was nominated by none other than the 45th President of the United States, Donald John Trump, and confirmed by the Senate on June 10, 2019, with 75 votes to confirm and 20 votes against.


"That old Confederate shrine that's been stinking up Arlington National Cemetery for all these years... it's time for that 'sucker' to go!"

[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 12-29-2023).]

[This message has been edited by BingB (edited 12-29-2023).]