{"id":2081469,"date":"2023-10-27T14:13:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T18:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/museum-director-gloats-as-robert-e-lee-statue-is-melted-down-in-secret\/"},"modified":"2023-10-27T14:16:45","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T18:16:45","slug":"museum-director-gloats-as-robert-e-lee-statue-is-melted-down-in-secret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/museum-director-gloats-as-robert-e-lee-statue-is-melted-down-in-secret\/","title":{"rendered":"Museum Director Proud as Robert E. Lee Statue Secretly Melts."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmuseum-director-gloats-as-robert-e-lee-statue-is-melted-down-in-secret%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2081469&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The American Left&#8217;s Secret War on \u2063History: Museum\u200b Director Gloats as Robert E. Lee \u200cStatue Is\u2063 Melted Down<\/h2>\n<p>The American left&#8217;s \u200drelentless and self-righteous assault on history continues, \u2063hidden from public view. \u2062According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/dc-md-va\/interactive\/2023\/civil-war-monument-melting-robert-e-lee-confederate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Washington Post<\/a>, \u200da statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, once standing in Charlottesville, Virginia,\u2064 has been\u200c melted down\u2062 as part of the\u200c &#8220;Swords Into Plowshares&#8221; project.<\/p>\n<p>The leaders of the project celebrated the \u200bdestruction of the statue, which occurred at an \u200bundisclosed location \u2064on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Andrea Douglas, the executive director of Charlottesville&#8217;s African American Heritage Center, watched with delight as the statue melted away.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Well, they can&#8217;t put Humpty Dumpty back together again,&#8221; Douglas exclaimed. &#8220;There will\u200b be no tape for that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Jalane Schmidt, a professor of religious studies at \u200dthe University of Virginia, is one of the organizers of the &#8220;Swords Into Plowshares&#8221; project along with Douglas.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We want to transform something that has been \u200ctoxic in \u2063the Charlottesville community,&#8221; Schmidt stated, as\u2062 reported \u2062by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/10\/26\/1208603609\/confederate-general-robert-e-lee-monument-melted-down-charlottesville-virginia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NPR<\/a>. &#8220;We want to transform it into a piece of art that the community can be proud of,\u2062 and gather around and not feel\u2062 excluded or intimidated.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Charlottesville&#8217;s Robert E. Lee statue has met its end, in a 2,250-degree furnace.<\/p>\n<p>The divisive Confederate monument, the focus\u200b of the deadly &#8220;Unite the Right&#8221; rally in 2017, was secretly melted down and will become a new piece of public art.<\/p>\n<p>More \u200bon the process:\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XatZUfvku3\">pic.twitter.com\/XatZUfvku3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The\u2062 Washington\u200b Post (@washingtonpost) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/washingtonpost\/status\/1717632621109231903?\">October\u2062 26, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>The statue \u2062of Lee gained national attention during \u200bthe clashes between extremist groups in the summer of 2017. These clashes \u2062involved despicable neo-Nazis and their ideological allies on one side, and detestable antifa and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/years-supporting-blm-coca-cola-quietly-makes-big-change\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Black Lives Matter<\/a> activists \u2063and their ideological allies on the other side.<\/p>\n<div id=\"firefly-poll-container\" class=\"one-half\">\n<div class=\"firefly-poll-question\">If The Western Journal launched a podcast, would\u200d you \u200csubscribe?<\/div>\n<div id=\"pollFormBox\" style=\"display: none\">\n<p>\t\t<label>Yes<\/label><br \/>\n\t\t<label>No<\/label><br \/>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-poll-disclaimer\">\n<p>\t\tCompleting this poll entitles you to The Western Journal\u200b news updates free of charge via \u2062email. You may opt out at anytime.\u200c You\u2064 also agree to our \u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/about\/privacy-policy\/\">Privacy \u200bPolicy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/about\/terms-service\/\">Terms of Use<\/a>.\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"firefly-poll-results\" style=\"display: none\">\n<div id=\"firefly-poll-results-yes\" style=\"width: 0%\">\n<p>\t\t\tYes: 0% (0 Votes)\n\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"firefly-poll-results-no\" style=\"width: 0%\">\n<p>\t\t\tNo: 0% (0 Votes)\n\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\tfunction \u2062ffp_getCookie(cname) {<br \/>\n\t\t\tvar\u2062 name=cname + &#8220;=&#8221;;<br \/>\n\t\t\tvar decodedCookie=decodeURIComponent(document.cookie);<br \/>\n\t\t\tvar ca=decodedCookie.split(&#8216;;&#8217;);<br \/>\n\t\t\tfor(var i=0;\u200d i <ca.length i var c=\"ca[i];\" while if return c.substring c.length function ffp_setcookie cvalue exdays d=\"new\" date d.settime expires=\"expires=\" d.toutcstring document.cookie=\"cname\" window.ff_poll_voted=\"false;\" voted_cookie_name=\"firefly_voted_3510406\" ff_poll_submit event event.preventdefault fireflypoll=\"jQuery(\" fireflypollcontainer=\"jQuery('#firefly-poll-container');\" pollformbox=\"jQuery('#pollFormBox');\" ffp_getcookie fireflypollcontainer.addclass to assign url here as it was defined only in firefly. firefly_ajax_url=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php\" posting=\"jQuery.post(\" jquery event.target the datalayer window.datalayer=\"window.dataLayer\" window.datalayer.push poll vote posting.done response response.success yes_el=\"document.getElementById(\" no_el=\"document.getElementById(\" yes_el.style.width=\"response.data.percents.yes\" yes_el.innerhtml=\"Yes: \" response.data.percents.yes response.data.votes.yes votes no_el.style.width=\"response.data.percents.no\" no_el.innerhtml=\"No: \" response.data.percents.no response.data.votes.no fireflypoll.remove pollformbox.hide document.getelementbyid fireflypollcontainer.removeclass else emailfield=\"document.querySelector(\" input emailfield.required=\"false;\" emailfield.style.display=\"none\" border: solid padding: margin-left: margin-right: margin-bottom: width: float: left background: border-radius: margin-top: padding-top: padding-bottom: padding-left: background-color: border-color: cursor: pointer lightgrey white-space: nowrap .firefly-poll-question font-weight: bold font-size: .firefly-poll-disclaimer max-width:><\/p>\n<p>Amidst the overwhelming hatred, the voices of\u2063 reason that sought to \u2062understand or explain the meaning of the statue were drowned out.<\/p>\n<p>One\u200d of the main issues lies in the revisionist histories of the Civil War.<\/p>\n<p>As\u200d a former \u2064professor specializing in early U.S. history, I can confidently say that the Confederacy fought primarily to defend the institution of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/dem-rep-displays-stunning-lack-knowledge-declaration-independence-slavery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">slavery<\/a>. \u2063The historical evidence leaves no\u2062 room for doubt, with Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens&#8217; 1861 &#8220;Corner Stone&#8221; speech serving as\u200d a clear example.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the post-Civil War Southern memoirs and\u200c mythology \u200dplayed a significant role in whitewashing the origins of the war. \u200bIn an effort to promote national reconciliation, the Southern cause was reframed as a defense of &#8220;states&#8217;\u200d rights.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It is also important to recognize\u2064 that the rise of Confederate \u200cstatues\u200c in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/museum-director-gloats-as-robert-e-lee-statue-is-melted-down-in-secret\/\" title=\"Museum Director Proud as Robert E. Lee Statue Secretly Melts.\">early 20th\u200d century coincided<\/a> with the triumph of racial segregation.<\/p>\n<p>Ignoring these historical truths weakens\u200b one&#8217;s\u2064 position. However, the gleeful destruction of the Lee statue is a disturbing\u2064 episode.<\/p>\n<p>It seems that those who destroyed it only saw\u200b the meaning\u200d attached to it by early 20th-century\u200d segregationists. But Robert E. Lee was not Nathan Bedford Forrest.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, in April 1861, before Virginia&#8217;s secession, President Abraham\u2062 Lincoln offered\u2063 Lee command of Union forces. Lee declined, stating that he could not fight against his home state.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If Virginia stands by the old Union,&#8221; Lee wrote in his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/rich\/learn\/historyculture\/-if-virginia-stands-by-the-old-union-robert-e-lee-resigns-from-the-u-s-army.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">resignation letter<\/a> from \u2062the U.S. Army, &#8220;so will I.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But if she\u200b secedes (though I \u200cdo\u2064 not believe in secession as a constitutional right, nor that there is sufficient cause for revolution), then I will follow my native State with my sword, and, if need\u2062 be, with my life.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, Lee\u200d cannot be considered a fervent defender of slavery. In fact, evidence suggests that he opposed slavery on moral grounds and\u200d likely freed most of\u200c his slaves before the war.<\/p>\n<p>In light of all this, have we lost the ability to discern? Can there be any doubt that Lee acted out of a sense of duty? Even if we disagree with his decision, can \u2062we question his\u200c primary motive?<\/p>\n<p>Is\u2064 there something about Lee that preserves an aspect of Southern heritage worth celebrating?<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, such questions are not\u200c allowed. Nuance threatens the moral certainty that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/rashida-tlaib-shamelessly-triples-hamas-hospital-claims-demands-independent-international-action\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">radicals<\/a> crave. Destruction is their preferred method, \u2064as\u2064 it makes them feel morally superior.<\/p>\n<p>In the summer of 2020, we witnessed Marxist BLM radicals reenacting \u2063China&#8217;s Cultural Revolution. They\u200c defaced \u200cor destroyed anything that represented our shared history, regardless of its significance.<\/p>\n<p>It \u200dwould be easier to sympathize with the removal of Confederate monuments if we hadn&#8217;t also seen the radicals&#8217; destruction of statues depicting George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, \u2064and even the all-black <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/rioters-deface-monument-black-civil-war-veterans-served-union\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">54th \u2063Massachusetts<\/a> regiment.<\/p>\n<p>The self-righteousness displayed by Douglas and\u200b Schmidt\u200d as they melted down the Lee statue reveals a different meaning than the one \u200cthey claim. Schmidt envisioned turning the melted \u200dstatue into &#8220;a piece of art&#8221; that would not exclude or intimidate\u2064 anyone.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, the original Confederate statues were erected by segregationists who\u2064 sought to exclude and intimidate. It seems that Schmidt and others fail to see the same hatred in those who target the monuments. Perhaps they were too busy \u2064patting \u2064themselves on the back to notice.<\/p>\n<p>Alternatively, they may have sympathized with the Maoist\u200c frenzy of 2020. Either way, they failed to differentiate\u200c between one Confederate statue and another, and they neglected to consider \u2063that\u200c these statues may hold different meanings for different people.<\/p>\n<p>Some might \u2062call that bigotry.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h3>An Urgent\u2062 Note from Our \u2064Staff:<\/h3>\n<p><em><b>The Western Journal has been labeled &#8220;dangerous&#8221; simply \u2063because we have a biblical worldview and speak the truth about what is happening in America.<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We \u2064refuse to let \u2064Big Tech\u2064 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/governor-goes-around-voters-backs-signs-change-in-state-election-laws\/\" title=\"Governor sneaks behind voters, enacts new election laws.\">woke advertisers dictate<\/a> the content we share with our community. We stand for truth. We stand for freedom. We stand with our readers.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We&#8217;re asking you to help us in this fight. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/donate\/?hosted_button_id=BM6XAWRJ8NS7A&#038;utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><b>We\u2064 can&#8217;t do this\u200b without you<\/b><\/a><b>.<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Your \u2064<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pedophile-hunters-one-man-crusade-brought-to-bloody-end-as-hes-shot-and-killed-during-confrontation\/\" title=\"Pedophile hunter's lone mission ends tragically with fatal shooting.\">donation\u200d directly helps fund<\/a> our editorial team of\u200b writers and editors. \u2064Your support means we\u2062 can continue to\u2064 expose false narratives and defend traditional American values.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/donate\/?hosted_button_id=BM6XAWRJ8NS7A&#038;utm_source=site&#038;utm_medium=westernjournalism&#038;utm_campaign=authorpitch\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Please stand with us by donating\u200d today<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><b>Thank you for your\u200d support!<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/museum-director-gloats-robert-e-lee-statue-melted-secret\/\">Museum Director Gloats as Robert E. Lee Statue Is Melted\u200b Down in Secret<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\">The Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What are the potential consequences of erasing historical artifacts, such as the Robert E. Lee statue, on society&#8217;s understanding of the past?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  The recent melting down of a statue of Confederate General \u2063Robert E. Lee \u200bin Charlottesville, Virginia, highlights the American left&#8217;s \u2064ongoing\u2063 assault on history. This destructive act serves to\u200b erase a part of our nation&#8217;s past \u200bwithout any consideration for the valuable lessons that \u200dhistory provides.<\/p>\n<p>The statue, which was \u2062part of the &#8220;Swords Into Plowshares&#8221; \u2062project,\u2062 was celebrated by the \u200cproject&#8217;s leaders \u2062as a \u200btransformation from something \u2062deemed toxic to a piece of art that the community can be proud of. While their intentions may be noble, this act disregards the importance of \u2064<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/middletown-historical-society-celebrates-100th-anniversary\/\" title=\"Middletown Historical Society Marks 100th Anniversary\">preserving historical artifacts<\/a> \u200band\u2063 the complex narratives they represent.<\/p>\n<p>Andrea Douglas, the executive director of Charlottesville&#8217;s African American Heritage Center, watched with delight as the statue melted away. Her exclamation\u200c of &#8220;they can&#8217;t put Humpty Dumpty back together again&#8221; \u200dreflects \u2063a vindictive \u200dapproach to history, where destruction \u200bis valued\u200c over understanding\u2062 and reconciliation.<\/p>\n<p>Jalane Schmidt, a professor of religious studies at \u2062the University of \u2063Virginia \u200dand one of the project&#8217;s organizers, stated that their goal was to create art \u200cthat the\u200d community can gather \u2064around without\u2063 feeling excluded or intimidated. While inclusivity and representation are important, this should not \u2063come at \u2062the cost of erasing history. By dismantling a statue that served as a \u2064reminder of our nation&#8217;s past, the project perpetuates a \u200bdangerous trend of rewriting history \u2062to fit a particular narrative.<\/p>\n<p>The statue of Robert E. Lee gained national\u200c attention during the clashes between extremist groups in 2017. While these clashes were undeniably disgraceful, they should not serve as a justification for eradicating historical monuments. History is complex and multifaceted,\u200b and removing statues creates a narrow view of \u2062the past \u200bthat fails to acknowledge the struggles, triumphs, and mistakes of previous \u200dgenerations.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of erasing history, we \u200dshould strive to have informed conversations about our past, even when it is uncomfortable. It \u200cis through understanding \u200dand grappling with\u2064 history that we can learn\u200c from\u2064 our \u200cmistakes \u2063and \u200bensure a more inclusive \u2063and tolerant\u200d society.<\/p>\n<p>The American left&#8217;s secret war on history, exemplified\u200d by the melting down of the Robert E. Lee statue, should be a \u2063wake-up call for all Americans. We must resist the urge to erase uncomfortable parts of our history and instead \u200bembrace the opportunity to learn\u200d and grow from them. History should be preserved, studied, and discussed, not melted down and hidden\u2062 away. Only through \u2064an honest \u2062examination of our past can we build\u2063 a better future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The American left&#8217;s covert assault on history persists. The Washington Post reports that a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, previously in Charlottesville, Virginia, was melted down for the &#8220;Swords Into Plowshares&#8221; initiative. The project leaders self-congratulated while overseeing the statue&#8217;s demise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2056,"featured_media":2081470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2081469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2081469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2056"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2081469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2081469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2081470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2081469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2081469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2081469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}