Justin Smith highlights the deception the Left has to actual
history. The American Left imposes the bad news over the good news of history
in an effort to transform the minds and hearts of Americans through violence,
intimidation, twisted facts and outright lies.
JRH 6/25/20
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Consider History, Racism and Redemption
By Justin O. Smith
Sent June 23, 2020, 02:01:18 PM CDT
I wonder when they will start tearing down statues of
Democrat Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia who was a leader in the Ku Klux
Klan, and will they destroy or rename buildings and roads bearing his name?!???
Robert Byrd (younger days)
In a letter to Senator Theodore Bilbo (D-MS) in 1944,
Senator Byrd declared:
“I shall never fight in the armed
forces with a negro by my side ... Rather I should die a thousand times, and
see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this
beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the
blackest specimen from the wilds.”
On one critical issue, Byrd broke ranks with his Democratic
colleagues. In 1964, when the Civil Rights Act was being considered for passage
on the Senate floor, Byrd filibustered for 15 hours, declaring at one point,
"Men are not created equal today, and they were not created equal in
1776, when the Declaration of Independence was written...Men and races of men
differ in appearance, ways, physical power, mental capacity, creativity, and
vision." Byrd would later apologize profusely for these opinions and
his participation in the KKK.
According to Fox News, there are no less than 20 buildings,
from universities to courthouses, and three highways wearing Byrd’s name, in
honor of his “accomplishments”. Multiple buildings are named for him on the
campus of Marshall University alone, which is, in fact, now calling for them to
be renamed.
Upon Byrd’s death, he had allies even in the Civil Rights
movement, with the NAACP at the time praising his legacy and his transformation
from a former KKK member to a “stalwart supporter” of civil rights. Byrd’s
evolution, however genuine or simply for political points and show, was even
honored by then President Obama, after he died.
Once one starts erasing history, no one is safe from the
destruction.
You may not like what a person stood for but rather than
seeing any particular statue as an idol or representative of the bad the person
did, try to understand why the statue was erected in the beginning. And if
there's nothing socially redeeming about the person and his actions over a
lifetime, understand him and those actions through the prism of history, as a
teaching tool to build a better society and prevent a repeat of those same
horrible mistakes and deeds.
Often times, men associated with the Civil War, such as
General Nathan Bedford Forest, did a good number of fine things before and
after the war. Forest actually worked towards racial reconciliation and healing
in America, despite false claims that he founded the KKK.
[Blog Editor: One should remember history is disseminated
through the eyes of the victors. Nathan Bedford Forrest benefits as a
historical enigma. Since the Confederate seceding States were not obliterated
but defeated with the concept of restoration to the Union, depending on
historical sources Forrest was a villain or hero. In today’s Leftist
revisionist history obsesses with cancelling the past, Forrest is in the
villain lane. With that in mind every source I consulted places Forrest in the
beginnings of the KKK yet when questioned under oath in Congress in 1871
Forrest denied KKK association yet writings and interviews at the least KKK sympathies.
I am listing several biography sources that connect Forrest to the KKK in
varying degrees and one source indicating Forrest a proponent of Black civil
rights later in life. None of the finger-pointing KKK biography sketches talk
about the Forrest efforts on behalf of Memphis Black Americans after the Civil
War.
o Postwar life and the Ku Klux Klan; By Robert L. Glaze; Encyclopædia Britannica; ©2020 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
o Fact Check: Was Nathan Bedford Forrest A KKK Leader? Probably;
By Phil Williams; NewsChannel5 Nashville; Originally
7/27/15 12:56 PM UPDATED 9/7/15 1:17 PM
o Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821–1877); By Biography.com
Editors; Biography.com (Publisher: A&E Television Networks);
Originally 4/2/14 UPDATED 6/1/20
o Nathan Bedford Forrest (subheading of interest: Differences with Southern white majority (1870s));
Wikipedia; Last Updated 6/25/20 18:10 (UTC).
o Remembering Rutherford: Forrest was postwar activist for
black civil rights; By Greg Tucker; Daily
News Journal; Originally 7/11/15 1:38 p.m. CT UPDATED
7/13/15 1:34 p.m. CT]
During a recent battle over his statue in Tennessee,
Tennessee Rep. Micah Van Huss was defiant in a statement written during the
brouhaha: “Leftists are free to choose not to look at these glorious
monuments,” he wrote. “You want to blind yourself to history? Go ahead and live
in your politically correct fantasy world. I live in the real world and will
represent my constituents from that viewpoint. I won’t be bullied into
pandering to your fragile feelings. I will stand by my heritage and the history
of the greatest nation the world has ever seen.”
Further, a July 5th 1875 speech that was delivered to the
Independent Order of Pole Bearers, a group of black Southerners in Memphis,
Tennessee, got Forrest in trouble with Southern racists at the time, mostly
because he dared to kiss a young black woman on the cheek when he accepted a
bouquet of flowers from her.
Nathan Bedford Forrest
bust-statue
Some quotes from the speech:
Ø “This day is a day that is proud to me, having occupied the
position that I did for the past twelve years, and been misunderstood by your
race. This is the first opportunity I have had during that time to say that I
am your friend. I am here a representative of the southern people, one more
slandered and maligned than any man in the nation.”
Ø “I want to elevate you to take positions in law offices, in
stores, on farms, and wherever you are capable of going.”
Ø “I am your friend … We were born on the same soil, breathe
the same air, and live in the same land. Why, then, can we not live as
brothers? I will say that when the war broke out I felt it my duty to stand by
my people. When the time came I did the best I could, and I don't believe I
flickered. I came here with the jeers of some white people, who think that I am
doing wrong. I believe that I can exert some influence, and do much to assist
the people in strengthening fraternal relations, and shall do all in my power
to bring about peace.”
Ø “When I can serve you I will do so. We have but one flag, one
country; let us stand together. We may differ in color, but not in sentiment.”
Ø
“Go to work, be
industrious, live honestly and act truly, and when you are oppressed I'll come
to your relief.”
And now they are attacking former President Theodore
Roosevelt who was not really a racist in any common sense of the word.
Roosevelt was certainly not a racist in the Southern tradition of hating his
colored "inferiors", oppressing them, and murdering them. The type of
racism Roosevelt
adhered to was common among whites, especially educated whites, that held it is
the White Man's Burden to care for and uplift blacks:
One view proposes that whites have an obligation to rule
over, and encourage the cultural development of people from other cultural
backgrounds until they can take their place in the world economically and
socially. The term "the white man's burden" has been interpreted by some
as racist, or possibly taken as a metaphor for a condescending view of
"undeveloped" national culture and economic traditions, identified as
a sense of European ascendancy which has been called "cultural
imperialism". An alternative interpretation is the philanthropic view,
common in Rudyard Kipling's formative years, that the rich (whites) have a
moral duty and obligation to help "the poor" (coloreds)
"better" themselves whether the poor (coloreds) want the help or not.
[Blog Editor: Similar text in paragraph scroll or page search for “From
David Cody, The growth of the British Empire” at this link - http://widercontexts.gyldendal.dk/theempire/TheWhiteMansBurden/post-reading.aspx]
This style of racism probably shouldn't be called racism
because that is misleading. We don't have a modern term that expresses the
prevailing belief of the ruling class of the time. Roosevelt's outlook was one
of benevolence such as one has for a child. Condescending perhaps but not evil.
But because his statue outside the Museum of Natural History
in New York City depicts him as a white man of great stature with two men
subordinate and trailing behind, one black and one Native American Indian, the
censors and the revisionists are demanding its removal.
Teddy Roosevelt on horse
with Native American & Black American statue
And it’s a damn shame, because history is so much more
complicated than just a few years out of any one person’s life, a life that
holds so many different possibilities and opportunities to do the right thing
for all, to never ask for forgiveness or to one day seek redemption and beg for
forgiveness.
By Justin O. Smith
___________________________________
Edited by John R. Houk
Text embraced by brackets and
embedded links are by the Editor.
© Justin O. Smith
