Robert E. Lee Monument; Vandalis Publishers Note: The United States is a civilized country where laws are written to protec and guarantee citizens their lif liberty, and pursuit of happines Every man, woman, and child has equal rights. It is against loca laws, ordinances, and sometimes federal laws; when to make their point, protesters become violent, prevent free passage on streets and highways, beat on cars that try to pass, and destr loot, and burn businesses. Mob rule is the control of a politic situation by those outside the conventional or lawful realm, typically involving violence and intimidation. Destruction of property is not the process that should initiate change. Tearing down, destroying, or vandalizing anything just because a group doesn’t like or agree with it should be met with swift arrests and convictions. Over the last few years, most of the people involved in the destruction of monuments were not charged or even held responsible, while others were arrested but had their charges dropped or reduced even though camera footage clearly showed the damage as
Following the George Floyd prote pedestal and base. 12 – American Battlefield Trust 32 – Ask The Appraiser 40 – Book Reviews
America’s Monthly Removal they caused it. While we have seen many examples during these times, it sets a dangerous precedent when law enforcement officers are told to stand down and ignore those committing crimes. Suppose a community is offended by a Confederate monument. In that case, the community’s elected officials an designated representatives shoul allow the locality to sell it to preservation group that would remove and relocate it: no riots and no destruction of monuments. The saddest aspect of memorial destruction and/or removal is no the near cowardly performance of officials more interested in reelection than the rule of law. is, instead, that those who want change are missing out on using these symbols as talking points to generate precisely the change they seek. Because symbols have great value for how people see meaning, the symbolic statues could be utilized to bring longburied causes to the surface where they can be confronted. Instead, the symbols are being destroyed, just as the Buddhas o Bamiyan were “removed” by the Taliban in 2001.
34 – Central Virginia 36 – Emerging Civil W 45 – Events
er’s designated bronze statue of ars after it was unveiled May 29
and destruction of property across the country. We must consider that George Floyd’s criminal record includes eight jail terms between 1997 and 2005 on convictions related to theft, drug possession, and trespass. I a 2007 home invasion conviction, he was sentenced to five years i prison for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. While his death was tragic and has been ruled a homicide, we must remember that he was under the influence of fentanyl (50 to 100 times more potent than morphine) and methamphetamine when he died while resisting arrest. Bot of which most likely attributed his death, per the coroner’s rep Still, and rightfully so, charge were brought against the police officers accused of murdering or participating in the murder of Floyd. But does that make Floyd some martyr or hero? They have erected monuments in New York and New Jersey to honor a modern-day hardened criminal who acted out against society, time and time again. They tore down the historical monument of War 2 ARMS! News 1
Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va. because part of today’s society doesn’t like what it believes th he stood for, but then two weeks later erect a statue of a black being freed from shackles. Is it because it makes some people feel better? What is more odious showing a man who has been chained, or a man who led an army fighting for their beliefs? Is it possible that those who remove or destroy a symbol reall believe what they do will effect change in the hearts and minds of others? Maybe, but not likely in the case of the Taliban and probably not in the case of thos who want to eradicate symbols that reflect, 1) Southerners standing for what they once believed in, 2) American militar prowess, 3) white supremacy, 4) Jim Crow, or a host of other attributes. Please make your own choice, but remember others may see something else, and they hav rights too, and who knows where the chicken will find a new roos
H R.E. Lee . . . . . . . . . . . see page 4 Source Unfinished Fight And That