On April 24, 2017, the city of New Orleans, the Chocolate City, began removing monuments and statues honoring the Confederacy.
As an aside, and lest you think I’m a racist for describing New Orleans as a Chocolate City – those are not my words. They are the famous words of then-Mayor Ray Nagan, explaining that after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans would rebuild and be majority black. The honorable former mayor is now better known as federal inmate No. 32751. He wasn’t sentenced to 10 years in the federal pen for being black. He was/is a crook.
The city began by removing an obelisk “which was erected in 1891 to honor members of the Crescent City White League who in 1874 fought in the Reconstruction-era Battle of Liberty Place.”
“Other monuments expected to be removed include a bronze statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee in a traffic circle, named Lee Circle, in the city’s central business district since 1884; an equestrian statue of P.G.T. Beauregard, a Confederate general; and a statue of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy.”
Now, you would think that the workers who were charged with dismantling and removing these symbols of racism and intolerance would be praised and cheered for doing the right thing. You’d be wrong. Instead they were forced to don helmets and flak jackets to protect themselves from potentially violent protesters. The also wore scarves to hide their identities, and had a police escort. Makes no sense to me – but I’m not a lunatic black activist.
When I heard that these and many other monuments were being taken down for the same reason, the first thing that came to mind was the late Democrat icon Robert “Sheets” Byrd (hat tip Rush). He was, of course, a long time U.S. senator from West Virginia, but also a member of the Ku Klux Klan. And not just any member – he was a recruiter, a Kleagle.
Yet Byrd has dozens upon dozens of hospitals, parks, office buildings, community centers, federal buildings, etc. that bear his name. No one says a word about that. Of course not. He was a good liberal.
When asked, Democrats merely state that the racist Byrd should be judged on the entirety of his career – his full body of work – not just his years in the Klan.
If this is the case, and it evidently is, why, then, was this courtesy not afforded to Gen. Beauregard, who was arguably a better man than was Byrd. Yet not a thought was given to the general’s “body of work” before tearing down his statue.
In fact Beauregard was not a racist. A native of New Orleans, he fought for the Confederacy because they were the home team, for want of a better term. It was well-known that he hated Confederate President Jefferson Davis – so much so that he refused to lead Davis’ funeral procession.
He was an equal-rights advocate and led the failed unification effort in New Orleans, bringing together both white and black leaders. He fought for voting rights for blacks, integrated schools, public places and public transportation, many decades before national talk of civil rights.
In a speech in 1873, Beauregard said: “I am persuaded that the natural relation between the white and colored people is that of friendship. I am persuaded that their interests are identical; that their destinies in this state, where the two races are equally divided, are linked together; and that there is no prosperity for Louisiana which must not be the result of their cooperation.”
Unfortunately, it’s too late to save the statue of Beauregard, the general. But maybe the city leaders could think about educating its residents about the real Beauregard and erecting a new statue depicting Beauregard, the native of New Orleans and civil-rights advocate.
Yes, I know. That’s too much to ask of a bunch of leftists politicians.
