President Obama places wreaths at Confederate, African-American memorials

[jefferson_dem]

May 25, 2009
WH places wreaths at Confederate, African-American memorials

From CNN Senior White House Producer Emily Schultze

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Following controversy over President Obama's decision to continue a presidential tradition of honoring Confederate war dead on Memorial Day, the White House confirmed Monday that a wreath will now also be placed at a monument to African-American Civil War dead.

Critics had called for an end to the longtime presidential practice of laying a wreath at the Confederate memorial. Last week, in a letter to Obama over the issue, roughly five dozen professors called the tradition offensive to African-Americans. In recent days, some observers had suggested the addition of the African-American memorial as a possible compromise.

On Monday morning, the president visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. A wreath was placed there, as well as four other sites honoring American war dead: the mast of the USS Maine; the Spanish American War Memorial; the Confederate Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery; and the African-American Civil War Memorial in Washington, DC.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/25/wh-wreaths-placed-at-confederate-african-american-memorials/

[NYC_SKP]

1. I don't understand the objection by five dozen professors....

...and the nerve they have to speak on behalf of so many others, to say that the tradition is "offensive to African-Americans".

Obama's solution to lay wreaths at both is perfect, just fantastic.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/22/AR2009052202999.html

:patriot:

[jefferson_dem]

2. This proves once again how this is a man of exquisite character, class, and judgment.

The shrill poli-correct exclusivist professors are as imbecilic as their bottom-feeding "birther" counterparts on the right.

Obama is a genuinely *American* president. Fantastic indeed.

[Cha]

4. Thanks for that SKP~

Prez Obama is all about trying to heal and not placing a wreath on the Confederate Memorial wouldn't help.

Too bad this sounds like raygun, though.

"Many agree that Ronald Reagan stepped over that line when he visited Bitburg in 1985 and laid a wreath at a German military cemetery near the graves of Nazi SS soldiers. But the Confederacy and the Third Reich are not, in the end, comparable."

[HopeOverFear]

6. Well I guess they mean it's offensive to honor those who were in favor

of enslaving their ancestors. But I agree with the decision to lay wreaths at both confederate and black union soldiers.

[IndianaGreen]

14. A monument build by KKK supporters

Did you even bothered to read the entire letter written to Obama?

[NYC_SKP]

17. Yes, I read the entire article, my post #3 includes a link, thank you very much.

I posted the link to the article before you read my opinion, I read the article, it was no bother.

Most people don't know those details, and we shouldn't let the details detract from the recognition that Americans died and are buried there. The civil war is over, we are united.
We can probably find fault in the history of any monument. The whitehouse was built and staffed by slaves, it is no longer.
The wreath was once laid on Jefferson Davis's birthday, it no longer is.

While I understand that some are offended, others would be rightly offended if the president did NOT lay a wreath there.
So there really isn't a win-win, everyone gets their way solution.

We are in solidarity, I think, that we honor the dead (if not the reasons their leaders went to war) of all American Soldiers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's another link to Arlington: http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/Visitor_information/Confederate_Memorial.html

Confederate Memorial

The history of Arlington National Cemetery is steeped in the Civil War, for is was this great national struggle that necessitated the establishment of this cemetery to bury its many dead. For many years following the war, the bitter feelings between North and South remained, and although hundreds of confederate soldiers were buried at Arlington, it was considered a Union cemetery. Family members of Confederate soldiers were denied permission to decorate their loved ones' graves and in extreme cases were even denied entrance to the cemetery.

These ill feelings were slow to die but over time they did begin to fade. Many historians believe it was the national call to arms during the Spanish-American War that brought northerners and southerners together at last. In that war numerous Confederate veterans volunteered their services and joined their Northern brothers on the battlefield in the common defense of our nation. In June 1900, in this spirit of national reconciliation, the U.S. Congress authorized that a section of Arlington National Cemetery be set aside for the burial of Confederate dead.

By the end of 1901 all the Confederate soldiers buried in the national cemeteries at Alexandria, Virginia, and at the Soldiers' Home in Washington were brought together with the soldiers buried at Arlington and reinterred in the Confederate section. Among the 482 persons buried there are 46 officers, 351 enlisted men, 58 wives, 15 southern civilians, and 12 unknowns. They are buried in concentric circles around the Confederate Monument, and their graves are marked with headstones that are distinct for their pointed tops. Legend attributes these pointed-top tombstones to a Confederate belief that the points would "keep Yankees from sitting on them."

To further honor these citizens of the South, the United Daughters of the Confederacy petitioned to erect a major monument to the Confederate dead. On March 4, 1906 Secretary of War William Howard Taft granted their request. The cornerstone was laid on Nov. 12, 1912 at a ceremony featuring speakers William Jennings Bryan and James A. Tanner, a former Union corporal who lost both legs at the second Battle of Bull Run. He was commander in chief of the Union veterans group, The Grand Army of the Republic. That same evening, President William Howard Taft addressed the United Daughters of the Confederacy at a reception in the Daughters of the American Revolution's Centennial Hall.

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/Visitor_information/Confederate_Memorial.html

What's more, some Confederate Soldiers were black and the monument depicts and honors them, ironically.



http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/blackcs.htm

[jgraz]

15. I'm not African-American, and I find it offensive

These were pro-slavery traitors. The President of the United States has no business honoring any of them.

[RoyGBiv]

27. It wasn't just professors, FWIW ...

It's interesting how the media has played this. It gives some insight into how the media plays all issues, in fact. I saw the original "story" before it was a story, and then I saw the first media reactions in which it was mentioned who was behind the complaint and that many professors of history and other subjects had signed on. Now it's a complaint that implicitly originates with those professors.

The complaint was actually written partly by someone I happen to know who is what I'll call a professional researcher. I'm not disparaging him in saying this. He has the same qualifications for this that I do, and I do some of the same kinds of things he does as far as the research itself goes. But, he plays on many of the associations he's made and occasionally is mistaken for a professional historian, sociologist, and even lawyer. He's actually just someone who has spent the last 15 years doing very little else but hating Confederates. Now, the Confederacy is certainly a worthy target, and he's done some work with the SPLC that has been beneficial, but this guy is pathological to what I consider an unhealthy degree. He has extended his efforts into trying to remove all historical displays and any sort of notation that the Confederacy ever existed, and I mean that with all the connotations it brings. He actually wants, for example, anything that in any way denotes the existence of a Confederate soldier removed from national parks. He seeks publicity, and with this, he finally found it.

Anyway, the professors signed it for their own reasons, and I'm not going to claim they were wrong to do so. I just wanted to point out that there's a more nuanced story behind the complaint itself than the media is portraying.

[NYC_SKP]

3. Link including the letter asking Obama to end the tradition of placing a wreath.

Interesting that until GHWB, the wreath was laid at the Confederate monument near the birthday of Jefferson Davis.

By moving the day to Memorial Day, I think the significance of the act changed to one of honoring the war dead and not the Confederacy itself. Placed there by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the letter calling for an end to the tradition makes reasonable arguments.

I feel that these arguments, while reasoned, are inadequate.
Imagine the drama and division that would derive from this president ending the tradition that to most Americans represents recognition of the sacrifice by soldiers on both side of the bloody conflict, and not support of the perspectives of those who placed it there.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/5/22/734253/-Will-Obama-Honor-the-Confederacy-This-Year

[Zomby Woof]

5. It was the right thing to do

The Confederate Veterans are after all, American Veterans, not defined just by their continent of origin or their heritage, but by several U.S. laws passed between 1913 and 1958. It was an American war, and soldiers, sailors, amd marines on both sides, of all backgrounds, deserve to have their memories honored. It is fitting that President Obama recognizes these laws, and as president, acts upon them, tradition or not.

I am very pleased that there is a memorial for the African American Veterans who fought for the Union, and that President Obama started a new tradition by sending their memorial a wreath as well.

:patriot:

[old mark]

7. Mom's family has been in Pennsylvania since the 1600's, and we had

family members on both sides of that terrible war. I hate what their cause stood for, but I am proud of them as soldiers and as relatives. I am glad President Obama chose to honor their memory on Memorial day, rather than on the day that commemorates their politicians.

I tried my best to ignore the Bush years, and I guess I succeeded - I had no idea the tradition was as it was, and I hope that it remains as it is now. I believe it is fitting that an African American President make this right, and I thank him for his consideration.
Our family has served in every war since before the Revolution, and I am proud of all of them.

mark
(Sp4, 1stBn, 504 PIR, 82d Abn Div 1968-71)

[CTLawGuy]

8. I disagree with the practice

I don't think people who attacked their own country and killed American soldiers should be honored. I disagree with Obama on continuing the tradition. I give him credit for honoring black soldiers as well.

However, I do not believe he is a corporate sellout or equivalent to Bush, I just disagree with him on this.

[WinkyDink]

10. Agree, 100%. The Union--as in "Gettysburg Address"---FOUGHT those rebels, FGS.

[Zomby Woof]

13. "With malice toward none, with charity for all"

Seems like Obama IS a Lincoln scholar after all, and actually understood his intent.

So much goddamned historical ignorance and "correct thinking" on DU, it's a sick fucking joke.

[Zomby Woof]

12. Most of them were just fighting for their homes

As writer Shelby Foote succinctly quoted a Confederate soldier who explaned why he fought: "Because they were down here." It wasn't slavery, or the Constitution (re: 'states' rights'), or any such legal niceties and entanglements as used by both sides of the ideological spectrum to explain the war or the reasons for fighting.

If only reality was as simple and as morally clear as so many DUers would believe. Ahhhhhh, sweet bliss.

[vaberella]

16. This is what I have read as well. There was a nuance that is forgotten.

There was a lot of things going on and there were a lot of ideologies of the time. Many were used to motivate the feelings and the position of people.

[CTLawGuy]

25. Tim McVeigh blew up a federal building

becuase he felt the US government was threatening him and his home. He regretted killing innocent people but he shrugged their deaths off as "collateral damage". Should Obama lay a wreath at HIS grave? How about giving Terry Nichols a medal of honor?

No American should be honored for taking up arms against America. Just because one ill-informed southerner spat out some quasi-noble reason for committing treason I am not impressed. Sorry

[queenjane]

26. Both the North and South drafted soldiers

Not every combatant--or even most--were volunteers. I think (I don't have a handy link to this) the South initiated conscription before the north.

I can only speak for what I've uncovered in my own family history (many, many Confederate soldiers). Two of them apparently joined to get the bounty offered (family legend has it they were literally sold to the conscription agent by their own father); both died in service. One my my gg-uncles deserted after Missionary Ridge and was subsequently murdered by the Home Guard after he returned to his family. Not all Southern soldiers joined enthusiastically, wanted to "kill Yankees", or wanted to prop up slavery. The ones in my own family were hardscrabble farmers or tradesmen, with no money or connections to avoid impressment. When Southern soldiers did manage to desert and hide out, the local Home Guards often tortured and even murdered their families. Their crops and farm animals were taken by the government to feed the armies. Many Southern citizens, except for the elite classes who were foaming at the bit for that war, were brutalized.

I'm not defending the assclowns who ride around with huge Confederate battle flags whipping from the backs of their pickups. I'm not defending the apologists who still insist the South should've won. But each and every day, Obama makes me prouder that he is my president, that a man of such rare intelligence and grace and aptitude for truly seeing the "big picture" managed to be elected in a country that rarely honors such qualities. Good for him.

[rasputin1952]

9. A few years ago on a trip back East w/my son, we were heading back to

AZ, and stopped at Antietam and Gettysburg. Many years before, when I was about my son's age at the time, I had made this trek before w/my beloved Aunt Edith, a woman of astounding intelligence and dignity. She described both battles as if she had been there watching what happened on those days in 1862 and 1863.

While I tried to recall all she had told me, from Devil's Den, to Little Roundtop, to the Angle I told my son of what happened there so long ago. While at The Angle on the Union line, near the Copse of Trees, I described, (to the best of my ability, far below what Aunt Edith could have done), what hand to hand combat happened there. A small group around us grew to over 30. People of every color and happenstance. When i was done with my 7 minute description, my son asked, "Dad, who were the 'bad guys'?" I looked at him and said, "John, there were no "bad guys", they were all AMericans fighting for what they believed in."

I was embarrassed as the group that had grown around us broke into quiet applause, and one elderly man from GA came up, shook my hand and said, "You would have been a damn fine soldier". I didn't tell him I had worn the uniform of the Army, I just said, "we really are all just Americans, thank God".

[NYC_SKP]

18. Well that's a beautiful story, rasputin1952!

Your son must be proud! :thumbsup:

[rasputin1952]

19. Thanks...whenever I go back to NY to visit family, I always drive...

That way we get to really see the country and can stop at anything interesting.

On that same trip, in AR, we stopped to get gas in a small town. We had left I-40 and were following a parallel road about 2 miles S of I-40. While the guy filled the tank, (they still did that back then), I heard a "party" over the fence out back. i looked over the fence and there were about 50 celebrants at a wedding. They were all black, and I am caucasian, so I figured I'd look like some fool gazing over the fence. An elderly man was close by, and asked me where I was headed as I wasn't a "local" he'd seen before. I told him my son and I were headed back to AZ and decided to get off the Interstate to see the local sights.

Long story short, my son and I ate some excellent Southern cooking, had a grand old time! John said we "needed to give the bride and groom a present"...being somewhat short on presents, I was thinking what to do when John came back w/some petrified wood we had picked up and never cleaned out of the car. He went over, and handed the gift to the bride saying, "may your happiness last as long as this wood has, and beyond". I was flushed with pride, and the bride gave him a big hug and kiss. When we left, we had enough food for the rest of the trip and then some. We sent them a thank you note after we got home, they responded and sent pictures of all of us. The box w/the pics was lost when we moved...:(

[NYC_SKP]

20. Wow, that's a lovely gesture...

Well, on their part and on John's. (How old was he?)

There are a lot of wonderful people throughout America.

Funny how much we miss if we stay on the Interstates.

Road trips have a great many opportunities to learn about our country and to make memories.

[rasputin1952]

21. He was 12 at the time...

I lucked out, he's really a good kid...has his moments these days, (21 now), but he's got a really good heart...:)

[Diamonique]

22. Thank you for sharing that wonderful story with us.

[mitchum]

11. Was the confederate white flag of surrender flying during the ceremony?

[boppers]

23. AA soldiers fought, and died, for both sides.

Reducing the conflict down to race isn't worthy of even being taught in elementary school history.

[Colobo]

24. Obama did good- both sides get recognition.