The men in white robes at the 1924 dedication of the General Lee
statue were the
Richmond Light Infantry Blues, a Virginia state militia.
I understand that Charlottesville
City Council might give away the Robert E. Lee statue if there is no
buyer. Please put my name on the list in that event.
As
a resident of Chesterfield County, I’m not aware of any statues in
Chesterfield — certainly nothing as imposing as the magnificent
portrayal of Lee and Traveler.
Our front yard in Bon Air, a Richmond suburb, will nicely accommodate the statue.
The
decision to remove and even get rid of the statue is absolutely
baffling to me. What if, nearly 100 years from now, Virginians look at
Richmond statues and decide they are an embarrassment? Would statues of
our recent Richmond tennis star Arthur Ashe, famed tap dancer Bill
Robinson and the planned statue of Maggie Walker, history-making banker,
be offered for sale? Given away?
Like
the council members, I am embarrassed by our history of slavery. But I
grew up with a grandmother whose mother’s first husband was killed in
the Civil War. We proudly have his diploma from the University of
Virginia’s medical school hanging in our home, because that is a touch
of history in our family.
I am
named for our only family Civil War hero, Molly Tynes. Our granddaughter
in Waynesboro, Molly Tynes, is named for her also. There are a monument
and a highway marker to Molly in Tazewell.
Molly, a young woman, is
remembered and honored for riding by horseback 44 miles and over five
mountains at night — a 12-hour ride — to warn Wytheville that Northern
forces were on the way to destroy the railroad. Molly saved Wytheville
from the Yankees. After many years of bragging that my great-great-aunt
bravely helped save Southwest Virginia, am I to go to Tazewell and
insist that the monument and sign honoring her be removed?
Are we to be the Taliban of Virginia, destroying art works of history just because, now, we don’t like the history?
Robert E. Lee and Traveler are welcome in our front yard.
Nancy Tynes St. Clair Finch, Chesterfield County
What makes the author believe that her front yard would be a safe haven for the General and Traveler? Once the American Taliban exhaust our public monuments they will certainly seek a new supply of inanimate objects that enrage them. A small detail like "Private Property" wouldn't bother them at all.
ReplyDeleteClaymores. :)
DeleteBravo, Nancy Tynes.
ReplyDelete- Charlie
Yes, Sir.
Delete