Texas A&M QB: Sul Ross statue must go

[Laurelin]

4. Tradition!

I have mixed feelings on Sully. His statue isn't mounted, which allegedly means he's not being honored for his warrior era. He's being honored for saving the university. And by being honored, I mean, he has a statue. I don't think anyone ever put a penny on Sully to honor the guy. I didn't know who he was when I was at A&M. We put pennies on Sully for luck with exams, or presentations, or...

I guess more people know who he was, now, because of the controversy. But where will the next generation of Aggies go for luck?

Seriously, I'm for removing anything that honors the confederacy or slavery or racism or abuse. But there is bad in everyone, and most of the world's heroes from earlier generations were racist and sexist. I'm still glad there was a Thomas Jefferson and a George Washington, despite their extreme shortcomings.

If it were up to me I'd leave some statues somewhere for history or beauty, with information about the evil as well as the good. And I'd get busy putting up new statues, of Harriet Tubman and Florence Nightingale and Marie Curie and many other heroes. They may have been flawed products of their times too.

But it's not up to me, so sing hullabaloo and make new traditions, maybe.