Lockerian Times #7

Hello, Lockerian reader. Coming to you now on this pixelated surface to deliver an important mensaje. Today I'm pretty pissed. A while back I was notified that the Robert E Lee statue in New Orleans is being taken down due to the disruption of sensibilities in response to history. First, let me give a little background before giving my take. A debate has been occurring surrounding monuments and whether we should be desecrating them or keeping them afloat. It bears relation to the confederate flag debate. Many groups believe these things to be symbolic of the aristocratic, white power structures of the South, and their preservation throughout history.


I'm afraid this is horrendously misleading. People are cheering this on for reasons of anti-racism, but they fail to grasp that there is no compelling reason to do this. I for one think states should move away from the confederate flags which were adopted during the 1950's. These were erected during Segregation, with the same intended purpose as our own apartheid. They were sectarian in a place which shouldn't allow sectarianism. But this statue was erected in 1884, 14 years after the man's death. Lee faced Northward, facing the perceived enemy to his people. The war was lost, and people who had met and respected him in life were in attendance.

I make a distinction from keeping unoriginal flag designs and from keeping historical monuments. When we start tearing down things we disagree with, people are going to know even less about them. Robert E Lee, while not owning slaves and while being a champion to many, was a powerful representation of the white aristocracy in the South. We should have a dialogue about these things. It's healthy for southerners to discuss what our history means going forward. Lee was not a slave owner; but he fought for racist, hierarchical structures. Grant did as well, considering the US did not abandon slavery until well into the war - Lincoln himself was prepared to accept eternal slavery to preserve the Union.

So, should we start erasing effigies of Lincoln? Should the currency being shoved up our asses have old white guys who owned slaves on it? Given, the answer to that question is no. I would rather have more tasteful patterns on money. We should have flowers and rainbows, the Rockies, the Okefenokee and Niagara. As for monuments, and places where we consecrate our history, nothing is going to be perfect unless if we adopt revisionism. Imagine if Donald Trump were to call in drones on the Statue of Liberty, destroying the monument for the theme of mass immigration. Imagine if some motherfuckers took a sledgehammer to Martin Luther King Jr.'s monument on the Potomac, because they read that awful FBI agent's diatribe against him.

Argue for equity in terms of viewpoints. Reveal the vibrant and living history of the South in a manner most unadulterated as possible. Welcome fact-based dialogue about where we are. But never allow people to destroy our history. When someone takes control of the dialogue, and tries to force their message down the throats of all succeeding generations, we need to stand up and call it out. This is not social justice. This is ludicrous. For this reason, I condemn this wasteful and counter-intuitive measure.

John Lockers