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In reply to the discussion: Trump: 'Robert E. Lee was a great general' [View all]Lithos
(26,403 posts)I understand the "myth of the benevolent Lee" as well as any. His death in 1870 added a ton of fuel to the idea of the Lost Cause. I believe Frederick Douglas remarked rather hostilely (and correctly) to the accolades at the time. I have never attempted to portray Lee as "enlightened", but then again, I have never attempted to portray him as anything but a product of this age.
Just like many things, the world is not divided into binary arrangements. The number of people in the 19th Century who would be considered enlightened along racial divides by today's standards were few and very notable. Most people held non-whites quite happily as a second class. Lincoln, while an abolutionist, was an ardent racist who held the superiority of the White race many times. The _Bell Curve_ is an old idea which has seen many attempts to justify.
This notion of superiority was one of the major drivers of Manifest Destiny. The number of people (in the whole of the United States - North and South) who would accept a person of color as an equal were notable for their exception. This remained true until the 1940's and only so because of the needs of the many (World War 2) outweighed the short-sightedness of the many. To try and say people "knew better" is wrong as people thought they did know better. The court victories in the 1950's were done with minority support and only thru the long-term vision of a handful of people.
Lee fell into this grey divide- he thought of the evil of slavery, but believed it was better than the alternative because of the racism. He opposed Virginia's secession, but fought for Virginia because he believed the State came first (an old idea which the Civil War finally killed). His prosecution of the war as best he could, winning many individual battles which prolonged the war by several years. He surrendered in a way which helped pave the way for reconciliation - at least between white people (that racism thing). During the remaining 5 years of his life, he pushed towards reconciliation by his education leadership. He could have done better, but so could a most others who lived in the re-United States.
I studied Lee fairly deeply because my family claimed the Lees as a kin. (I have shown this to be not the case - Lee is a common enough name). I never fell into the mythology - my admiration of Lee is first done with knowing he is extremely flawed, especially along race. My admiration comes from other aspects including his humility when it came to the average soldier. He was a better than average General - though not the best one to come from the Civil War. (Longstreet, Thomas, Sherman, Cleburne, Grant, Sheridan, Meade all come to mind as possibly better). He also knew when it was time to accept and prepare for change.
Should he have statues? No. Should he be considered the "Banality of Evil?" which is what is happening now? No. The Mythology was created after his death, so he had zero to do with it. The "Banality of Evil" should be given to the Lost Causers (which Lee was not - he died before the movement started) and those who hide behind this for the cause of White Nationalism.
Or if you TL;DR - I think the vitriol is misdirected towards Lee when it should be towards today's White Nationalists.