[VAcourier] Being civil about our heritage

[Virginia Division SCV Communication List]

*Being civil about our heritage
* By Bryan McKenzie
bmckenzie at dailyprogress.com | 978-7271
Saturday, January 19, 2008

It's high noon on the day that the commonwealth celebrates their lives, 
but no one is gathered beneath their stone likenesses in the 
Charlottesville parks that bear their names.

What if you threw a holiday and nobody partied?

Remembering the past

Lee-Jackson Day, recognized Friday, is a historical artifact that began 
in 1889 as a tribute to Gen. Robert E. Lee and was expanded in 1904 to 
include Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. It's also a social anachronism, 
the Confederacy having fallen far from favor in the mainstream. So why 
keep the day on the books?

"Because they lived exemplary lives and we can learn a lot from them," 
said R.E. Lee Scouten, commander of Camp 1493 of the Sons of Confederate 
Veterans. "They are very different men who grew up in very different 
ways but who were united in a common cause. They were very moral men and 
their lives are good examples for us."

The Sons are sponsoring a Lee-Jackson Day Dinner on Sunday at Michie 
Tavern. Jennings Lee Wagoner, University of Virginia professor emeritus, 
will be the guest speaker.

Please note that the Sons are in no way related to other organizations 
that wave the Stars and Bars but also have strange fetishes for fire and 
bedclothes or penchants for goose-stepping and getting bad haircuts. The 
Sons, and their Northern brethren, Sons of Union Veterans, are not about 
repressive social change but rather history and heritage.

"We're not chauvinistic or racist and we're not angry or bitter," Mr. 
Scouten said. "It's our heritage and our ancestry and we believe it's 
important to learn from the past."

Being ready for the future

For Mr. Scouten, the lessons to be learned from the generals make them 
worth a holiday. For instance, Robert E. Lee, product of a 
well-established family, sacrificed his career in the U.S. Army to serve 
his native state.

"After the war he took a pardon to set the example for [other 
Confederates] and show that it was time to rebuild the country. He went 
to work at the [Washington and Lee] college and built it back up to 
respectability," Mr. Scouten said.

Gen. Jackson was a different sort. A West Point graduate and Mexican War 
veteran, he was the product of a broken home and an unpopular Virginia 
Military Institute professor. The Christian fundamentalist, who owned 
six slaves, caused considerable controversy by holding a Sunday school 
program teaching blacks to read, in violation in Virginia law.

His later popularity came from his military ability and the personal 
integrity and fairness resulting from his black-and-white belief in 
right and wrong.

"They were extraordinary people of their time and good examples today," 
Mr. Scouten said. "We're proud of our heritage and believe it's 
important to remember these men."





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