Posted on 04/18/2014 3:41:38 AM PDT by Altura Ct.
After the Civil War, Robert E. Lee accepted a position as president of what was then called Washington College. By all accounts, he served the school well and had a nice end of life. After his death, Washington College was renamed Washington & Lee.
Today, many black people attend the university that bears Marse Robert’s surname, so I guess we won. But a group of black law students at Washington & Lee Law School is getting really sick of the university’s consistent, stars-and-bars waving support of Lee’s legacy and the whitewashing (no pun intended) of what that legacy represents.
They’ve got a list of some very specific “demands” for the Washington & Lee administration…
On the one hand, I’m kind of surprised that black students at Washington & Lee are just now threatening “civil disobedience” over the school’s longstanding remembrance of the Confederate cause. The thing is called Washington & Lee, not Washington & GRANT. I mean, here’s a line taken right from the school’s “about” page on its website:
Founded in 1749, Washington and Lee University is named for two of the most influential men in American history: George Washington, … and Robert E. Lee, whose presidency and innovative leadership brought the University into the national limelight.
Right… the two “of the most” influential individuals are George Washington and Robert E. Lee. Not Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Not even Washington and John C. Calhoun… you know, the guy who came up with the whole, bollocks secessionist legal reasoning. But Washington and Robert E. “I’d rather fight for my state than combat a great evil for my country” Lee. Lee’s logic is akin to me fighting the Orkin Man because the “New York City” rats shouldn’t be subjugated to a “national” company, but whatever.
Again, black people could have probably known what kind of university they were getting involved with when they applied to Washington & Lee, but if you want to know what’s pissing the black law students off, I can begin to explain in a picture:
Now, I don’t know if a tomb to a dead general crosses that intangible line from historical preservation to offensive nostalgia. But when you couple those traditions with other things black law students at W&L are complaining about, you can understand their problem. Here is a list of demands from a group of black law students calling themselves “The Committee”:
Here is a list of the FOUR DEMANDS:
1. We demand that the University fully recognize Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on the undergraduate campus.
2. We demand that the University stop allowing neo-confederates to march on campus with confederate flags on Lee-Jackson Day.
3. We demand that the University immediately remove all confederate flags from its property and premises, including those flags located within Lee Chapel.
4. We demand that the University issue an official apology for the University’s participation in chattel slavery, including a denunciation of General Robert E. Lee’s participation in slavery.
If the school does not act by SEPTEMBER 1, 2014 we WILL engage in civil disobedience.
Really, this is a Confederate Battle Flag issue. To me, it’s a symbol of racial oppression. To others, it’s a symbol of Southern pride. My question to the Southern Pride people is always: what about all the black Southerners? Are they not allowed to be “prideful” of their Southern roots as well? Or are they supposed to wave around a Confederate flag in support of their “state’s rights”?
I contacted Washington & Lee about the controversy. Here is the school's statement:
We have received communication from the group of law students who signed the letter and have responded by inviting invited them to engage in serious discussions about the issues that they have raised.
The question of cancelling classes on MLK Day has been discussed on several recent occasions. The law school does not hold classes that day. Any decision on changing the University's undergraduate calendar rests with the undergraduate faculty, which approves academic calendars and adjustments to the class schedule. Washington and Lee does recognize Martin Luther King Jr. each year with a university-wide MLK Legacy Week during the week of MLK Day. This annual observance features a prominent guest speaker. Recent examples are Donna Brazile, Andrew J. Young, and Julian Bond. In addition, panels, symposia and programs are available not only for the university community but also for the Lexington/Rockbridge County community. We have chosen to honor Dr. King's legacy in this way.
In terms of the other issues that the students have raised, we will give them all careful consideration
Yay. Washington & Lee has black friends, so it's all good.
Look, in terms of Washington & Lee, sure George Washington was a slaveholder too. And if W&L is using that flag in order to honor slavery, well, go nuts. But let's just remember that Washington — the Washington who fought and froze and bled for this country, the Washington who was our first federal president under our constitution — would probably roll over in his marble grave to know that a REBEL flag was displayed so prominently at a university that bears his name.
Whatever you think the Confederacy was about, it most certainly involved a violent rebellion against a duly elected president led by people who had the right to vote but could not achieve their political motives through the agreed upon process. The Founding Fathers wanted representation. The Confederates wanted to get their way, regardless of what "voters" wanted in new territories. You think Washington would wave a flag for that?
Washington & Lee has two people in its name, maybe it's time to start listening for the echoes of the other guy.
That’s sexist
And yet Blacks vote for a political party, whose annual banquet is named for two slaveholders - Jefferson and Jackson.
He goes on about Washington being duly elected but were blacks allowed to vote for him? How about women? Would Jimmy Carter have certified that election?
In other words, why stop at Lee and the Confederacy — why not go full Zinn and denounce Washington as well. He’s obviously just another member of the white patriarchy. I mean he’s even older, whiter, and deader than Lee isn’t he?
And why honor an Uncle Tom like MLK when we could be giving the clinched fist salute to Malcolm X? The naive MLK actually thought racism could be overcome. X knew the struggle was ETERNAL.
And for the struggle to be eternal, you must be never be willing to settle or be satisfied. You’ve got to go after Washington too, and MLK. Pull it all out by the roots and burn it. It’s the only way. Burn it all down.
Should Howard University be forced to commemorate Confederate Memorial Day?
Slave importation into the states was banned in 1808 so land owners did not do what you said. But slave importation into the Caribbean did continue with Northern businessmen, shippers, bankers, college founders, and government officials doing the lucrative business of keeping slavery alive.
No one at W&L is "honoring slavery". No one. And the author knows that perfectly well. So this article is just another piece of propaganda. Goebbels would be proud.
Since it's not celebrated in Washington, D.C. then probably not.
The moronic law school student doesn't even know the meaning of the word "of"... "Two OF"... NOT "THE Two Most Influential"... He's desperately trying to find reasons to be offended and to get attention... no different than any small child or dramatic pre-teen girl.
They call for this long after the graduating class has walked. Anyone I know that’s been in a decent law school has told me there is not much time to do much of anything until the 3rd year.
Typical lawyer crap.
They are looking to have their bills paid.
:-)
If you are suggesting that tradition is the determinant, then W and L should not observe MLK Day.
They should transfer to a school which more closely reflects their values.
I'm talking about holidays. You asked if Howard University should be required to observe a date which is not a holiday in D.C. where Howard is Located. MLK day is a federal holiday so both Howard and Washington and Lee observe it. Confederate Memorial Day is a state holiday in Virginia, though I don't think private universities are required to observe it. However, if they were required and if Howard University was in Virginia then I'd expect them to comply wiht the law. Like it or not.
PS - The author of this article appears to be an ignorant moron.
Ain’t it grand living in the “great (welfare) society” of Lyndon Baines (I”ll have those blacks votin’ democratic forever) Johnson.
This just in! The NBS (Non-Black Student) committee has just responded to the BS (Black Student) committee demands: “Respectively, and after due consideration, we have decided you can take your BS demands and shove them up your racist a**es”.
I’m speaking more of the 17th + 18th century slave trade than the 19th. Colonial America more than post-American Revolution.
“Blacks must be incredibly fragile.”
Biggest crybabies ever. Can’t do without the white man giving his very food but want to claim “pride” and “victim”. There isn’t a black run nation that is prosperous and doesn’t do without billions in “aid”.
It was the same then........slave traders doing the importing.
“...Washington who was our first federal president under our constitution — would probably roll over in his marble grave to know that a REBEL flag was displayed so prominently at a university that bears his name.”
On the other hand, Washington was a Virginian and a rebel himself, so maybe not.
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