Posted on 05/14/2003 10:10:08 AM PDT by Rebeleye
The Robert E. Lee name will soon disappear from the uniforms of Boy Scouts in central Virginia.
The executive board of the Robert E. Lee Council of the Boy Scouts of America voted "overwhelmingly" last week to drop the Confederate general's name from its title and logo, beginning sometime next year.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesdispatch.com ...
The executive board of the Robert E. Lee Council of the Boy Scouts of America voted "overwhelmingly" last week to drop the Confederate general's name from its title and logo, beginning sometime next year.
Lee's name has been used to identify the Richmond-area Scout council since 1942. The council serves 24 counties and four cities, with about 22,000 registered Scouts and 7,500 leaders.
Local Scout executives plan to have a new name in place by June 2004.
"The suggestion box is open for any and all ideas," local Scout Executive Robert A. Tuggle said.
"We want a name that is more geographically descriptive, so that when we market ourselves outside of this area - particularly our camps - people will know what part of the country we're in."
The decision to eliminate Lee's name, which some African-Americans consider an offensive relic of the past, "was the right thing to do," Tuggle said.
He insisted the change has nothing to do with political correctness.
Board members "acknowledged Lee as an outstanding man, leader and influential person in our country's history," Tuggle said, "and changing the name . . . has nothing to do with the character or opinions" of Lee.
However, Tuggle said, a new, more inclusive name will "better represent our entire population."
"The board made the decision based solely upon what they thought was right for Scouting's future [in central Virginia], and felt no pressure from any outside group."
Tuggle summed up the board's decision with this thought: "If there is one boy that doesn't join Scouting, or one qualified leader that does not volunteer because of the name, shouldn't the organization's leadership examine that?"
Tuggle said 43 members of the approximately 70-member executive board were present for last Thursday's voice vote. He said the "overwhelming majority" voted to change the name.
Predictably, the decision drew strong reactions from special-interest groups on both ends of the political spectrum.
"I'll tell you, it's a surprise," said King Salim Khalfani, Virginia director of the NAACP. "But it is something whose time has truly come. Because [Lee's name] has been a sticking point for many in the African-American community and many progressive and non-Confederate-loving whites and others."
"So I think it's a very positive step and I want to applaud them for their forward thinking."
Khalfani, a former Scout from Cleveland, believes the decision will boost minority recruitment for local Scout packs and troops.
"Taking that barrier down would lead me to help recruit," Khalfani said.
Brag Bowling, commander of the Virginia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, called the Scouts' decision shameful.
"American history has very few people who have represented honor and integrity such as General Lee," Bowling said in prepared remarks. "His fame is worldwide. Everything which General Lee stood for are virtues which all people should subscribe to."
Bowling questioned the motivation behind the decision. He said it couldn't be financial because "there has been no problem raising funding in both the corporate and private arenas."
"There can only be one reason and that is political correctness," Bowling said. "The Scouts have taken the easy way out."
Despite the name change, Tuggle said there has been some discussion of "continuing the association with the Robert E. Lee name in some way within the council." But how that might be done was unclear.
Eliminating Lee's name brought conflicting opinions, even from members of the same Scout group.
Brown Pearson, cubmaster of Pack 801 in Chesterfield County, said he was shocked and disappointed by the decision.
"It's a tradition that goes back a long way, and I think Robert E. Lee did stand for good values," Pearson said. "I don't think it is a demeaning name at all to have. I think it's an honorable name.
"I've never known anybody that's not joined Scouting because of the name of the council," he added. "It seems to me a real shame to change it."
But Jonathan P. Brown, one of Pearson's assistants who leads a Tiger Cub den, said he almost didn't volunteer because of the council's name.
When he came here from Atlanta and learned the council was named after Lee, "It was a real hard decision to be a part of something like that," said Brown, who is black. "There was some severe hesitation."
Brown said he softened his views after visiting his brother, who kept a large painting of Lee on the wall behind his desk at the state Capitol. His brother was director of communications for the Virginia Department of Social Services in the administration of Gov. George Allen.
The painting depicted Lee surrendering to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox. But Brown said he initially focused only on Lee's portrait, and was incredulous his brother would display such a picture.
In discussing the matter with his brother, Brown said, he came to accept Lee as a historical figure.
"As long as you don't glorify who he was, or what he did, or all the things that he stood for, I don't have a problem with it," Brown said. "So as of right now, I don't have a problem with wearing the Robert E. Lee patch on my arm. If I had a choice, [however], I would not wear it."
Contact Mark Bowes at (804) 649-6450 or mbowes@timesdispatch.com
He's right. It's not financial. The Council hasn't said it was financial. The motivation is membership. No one's going to quit Scouting because they've changed their name from Robert E. Lee to something else, but there's people who haven't joined Scouting because of it.
Nation wide, the proportions of the black and hispanic populations that have joined Scouting are lower than the proportion of the white population. There are a number of reasons for this. One is that white people tend to make more money than blacks and hispanics and are thus better able to afford uniforms, books, and camping equipment. But that can be overcome. Another is that minorities in general are more likely to live in single-parent family homes, and single parents are much less likelly to have spare time to be Scoutmasters, Den Leaders, etc., and without leaders you have no units. This is harder to overcome. I would imagine that there's a certain reluctance for blacks to have a patch on their shoulder that has Robert E. Lee's name on it. This last, the Council just overcame.
Call it PC if you want, but the BSA is going to do everything it can to increase their membership rolls without compromising their principles, and this is one thing they can do.
Don't hold your breath waiting for the Abraham Lincoln Council to change it's name.
My suggestions for name change: M. Gandi Boy Scout Council #602 or Rodney King Boy Scout Council.
Jeeeeeeez, PC is such a bummer!
Incidentally, Robert E. Lee is honored at Arlington National Cemetary. And, by the way, what about a boy who happens to be named Robert Lee wanting to join?
I get many questions like this. Give 'em the Choctow Wave
< grin >
You better hope the NAACP doesn't decide that offends them or he will be exumed and moved to Trent Lott's house.
Maybe we could have a King Salim Khalfani chapter. Robert E. Lee was one of the finest citizens this country ever produced. History is in the eye of the beholder. I have a book which focuses on RE Lee through his letters. His love of country, family, and honor in general need no highlighting when one reads that which he wrote.
That is an excellent point. People of today just do not realize how much their State mattered to the people of the individual states back then.
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