By Don Valentine and Sarah Goldman
He-Said: It is long overdue for the country to rename our military bases. That brigade of generals we have been honoring lost! The homage to the Confederacy is a painful reminder of past and present institutionalized racism in the United States.
Sarah, I know you’re pro America just like me. The undeniable fact is the South lost the war. In addition they abandoned the Union they swore loyalty to. They say it was about State’s rights. Translation, “Nobody is going to tell me what to do with my Negros!”
She-Said: We agree that slavery of Black people was awful. For that matter there is no justification for the historic incidents of slavery. I don’t see why we should distort history by not memorializing those brave men of the Confederacy. They had the courage to fight for an unpopular cause and did not back down.
By your logic, we should not recognize anyone that participated in slavery? Do we take George Washington off the $1 bill? He owned slaves, but was the vangaurd of our union.
He-Said: Yes he should be replaced and left to the history books. Noteworthy clearly, but he does not need to be recognized as the face of our currency. Nor do the other Presidents and founding fathers, who disparaged the theme of our declaration of Independence “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain un-alienable Rights…
That list includes Ben Franklin (who also advertised slave auctions in his paper), President Andrew Jackson, of course Hamilton, President Grant, and Thomas Jefferson (the record leading 600+ slaves.) The only President on US currency to not own slaves was Lincoln. He should keep the $5 bill nameplate. Gosh in 244 years of the Union there was not a noteworthy woman? Dr. King, begrudgingly, got a national holiday. That would be a person of merit. After he dies President Obama must be placed on some currency! We have no reason to honor the traitors of the Confederacy. Do we have any monuments for traitors like Benedict Arnold?
