Ann's Blog On Confederate Statues

Ann's second quarter blog #5:

"University to reconsider Confederate statues on campus" (cnn.com, December 28, 2006)

There is an ongoing debate over statues on display on the campus of the University of Texas. These statues honor some of the leaders of the Confederacy. Some examples of these statues are the Confederate President Jefferson Davis and the Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Apparently there have always been concerns over the praise that these statues give to the Confederacy. Recently, however, a new president for the campus has decided to let a panel decide if they should be allowed to stay. The previous president of the campus wrote a letter a couple of years ago that said that the statues "convey institutional nostalgia" (I had no idea what that meant, but thanks to wikipedia I know know that it has something to do with wanting to acknowledge our history.) In 1999 money was raised to create a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. and there are also statues of the hispanic labor leader Cesar Chavez and the first black woman from the south to be elected into the Congress.

I think that this is all a waste of time and money for this university. As far as I know the history books report the North's victory, so I'm not sure why people are getting so insecure about ackowledging works of people from the South. To me it's like this: their efforts may be worthy of praise but it obviously wasn't enough for them to win the Civil War, so there is no need to worry about them. They have a huge part in our history and they shouldn't be over looked just because they were on the losing side of things. Our country is quite a bit different today than it was back then and I don't think that we can say that their actions are "bad" because we didn't actually live during their time period. We can't call them traitors to our country because our country has changed so much since then. We could possibly call them traitors to the country that we used to be, but their actions against that country helped to shape the country that we are today. To me, history is history, and it shouldn't be one-sided. Robert E. Lee should be praised for his great leadership and Davis should also be recognized. They had a huge impact on our country and we should be happy for that. The more news that I read the more sick and tired I get of people who whine and can't look at something from a different angle. Everything has to constantly be criticized and critiqued and nothing can just be taken for what it is. It really frustrates me. On a lighter note, I like how I know about Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis. YEA!!! GO ONLINE HISTORY CLASS...I'm learning!!!!

Article from:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/12/28/confederate.statues.ap/index.html
Image from:
http://sandstead.com/images/monument_avenue/MERCIE_Antonin_Portrait_Equestrian_Statue_of_Robert_E_Lee_and_horse_Traveller_Monument_Row_Richmond_Source_Sandstead_d2h_04.jpg