Confederate statues commemorated history that never was

Published 1:30 am Friday, July 16, 2021

I see that Richmond, Va., has removed the statue of Robert E. Lee, and it was about time.

They gave him a dignified sendoff; right side up, unvandalized, majestically astride his horse, soaring above a cheering crow, and riding into an indefinite future.

Lee himself would have approved. He did not care much for statues.

Such Confederate memorials call to mind a land that none of us has ever seen, but we all remember from history. A land — we were told — governed by gallant men and blessed with gracious women. A land where — we were told — the work was done by a happy people, content in and uplifted by their servitude.

A land that never was.

Charles DeBruler

Everett