Letters to the Editor: June 23 – 29, 2016
J.E.B. Stuart Was an Unrepentant Traitor
Editor,
Why is renaming anything named after unrepentant traitors controversial? Stuart died a traitor. He never had the chance to apologize for his role in killing battlefields full of traitors and patriotic Americans alike. One can assume he was proud of his treachery until the end.
Alas…the more things change… eh?
Today, still not a single confederate state has apologized for starting the bloodiest war in American history, and only a few have apologized for slavery. Instead, we are subjected to a revisionist “Heritage” fairy tale designed to redeem bigotry and hatred. But we aren’t fooled. Decades of Jim Crow, opposition to civil rights, and barely (if at all) concealed racism betray the truth. And denying that truth works grave injustice against truly patriotic and honorable men like Cassius M. Clay, the Kentucky abolitionist who raised an Army to protect Lincoln’s White House.
In November, Donald Trump will sweep the south. It’s time to stop pretending bigotry and hate aren’t primary drivers of his appeal.
And it’s long past time the south take moral inventory and apologize. For slavery, secession, the Civil War, Jim Crow and their “heritage” – centuries of racism, bigotry and hate. Only then can we begin discussions about redemption.
Mike Stark
Falls Church
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