Keeping History Intact

On the lawn of the Gregg County Courthouse, three blocks from my home, is a statue of an unnamed Confederate soldier, in remembrance of local lives lost in the course of the Civil War.  This is an understandably contentious statue, as is arguably raises to a place of respect the position of racial subjugation of African Americans as slaves that the Confederacy represented.

In the Longview News Journal, an article featuring Chelsea Laury, states that she has started a petition to remove the confederate statue from the courthouse lawn.  Laury states in the article:

“Every time I see that flag, or that memorial, or statues, I think of people who believe that my people, my ancestors, my family, me should be ‘other’ human beings, should be enslaved just based solely on the color of their skin,” she said. “It makes me feel alienated in a way. It feels kind of intimidating, to be honest, to have this huge statue of a confederate soldier looking down on you. If that person was real in front of me, they would think I’m a lesser human being than they were.”

I am heartily grieved for Laury's feelings on the matter.  But, I don't think that they justify the removal of the statue.  Longview Representative Jay Dean is quoted in the article as well, having stated Thursday:

“we cannot rewrite history....It[the statue] reminds us of the hundreds of thousands of people that suffered greatly during this time, and it should serve as a reminder, not as a threat or any type of disrespect for any group of people,” Dean said. “Our county is named Gregg County. It was named after that person, so what’s next? I think we leave history alone, and we learn from history, and we continue to move forward as a county, as a state, as a country and understanding those historical markers and what they represent. They should remind us of a dark place we never want to go back to.”

For myself, I am inclined to agree with Rep. Dean.  Insofar as I cannot see inside the mind of the Confederate soldier the statue represents, I could conjecture, similarly to Laury, that, on the basis of my being a woman, that he would likewise look down on my personage.  It may not even be inaccurate to contend that a Confederate man would not wish me to own my home, vote, or be educated and outspoken, all of which are true of me.  However, this does not cause an emotional reaction in me.  Any Texan man in 1860 would be entirely likely to agree with, and defend those views.  He is a product of his time, as I and Ms. Laury are a product of 2020, one hundred and fifty-five years after the end of the war.

I was born a "Yankee," in Ohio.  I learned about the Civil War as one in which the North and South fought for an ideological purpose of representing blacks as equal to whites.  I was wholly ignorant of the war being known as "The War of Northern Aggression."  I had no idea that people hoisted Confederate flags in 21st century America.  When I moved here in 2001 for college, these realities, and those of the visible signs or "othering" and separation that I saw were hard pills to swallow after a very different experience in the North.  I didn't even care for how I was treated as a woman.  Southern sensibilities and understandings came hard to me as a Yank.

A modern day Christian might, and ought to be, appalled that Confederate men may have argued slavery as biblical.  A modern person who doesn't adhere to a faith practice might be disgusted at the backwards ways of a faith that can justify such a gross inequality.  I would even posit that your average Gregg county man of 2020 would have a much more modern perspective on the identity, personhood, equality, and value of any person; color, gender, and creed notwithstanding.  In essence,  I think it would be extremely difficult to find a man today matching the description of the average Texan Confederate soldier in mindset.  Because, as a society, we have moved forward.  We have progressed to something more respectful and decent, in every standard of measure.  Equality, by every standard, is something that Longview, and Gregg County are daily continuing to ensure, by ferreting out injustices.

I have seen massive growth in the region in the almost twenty years in which I've lived here.  My church is one in which peoples of every color are represented, and in roles of leadership.  My daily interactions within my community are uniformly respectful and positive, no matter the individual.  When I see Longview, I see people who want, vote for, and live the changes that everyone deserves.

When I have looked up at the statue representing the lives of Confederate soldiers, I am moved to teach my children of the wrongs done by the founders of Longview, in the same way as teaching them about Thomas Jefferson's foibles, sins, and hypocrisies.  What the Confederates did shaped the path of what Longview has become.  What our founding fathers did shaped our nation.  It does not define us as citizens of Gregg county, or of the United States. It reminds us to push forward.

My home in Longview is a historical home, built by Confederate veteran, then later sold to another Confederate veteran.  I am fairly certain those men who built and then lived in my home are likely to have owned slaves, and, after the war, to have employed Black citizens in an egregiously racist manner.  I'm not tempted to tear down my house, however.  Instead,  I have and do welcome in people of any faith, color, gender, orientation or ability (the wheelchairs require a lot of planning, since we don't have ramps, but we've always made it work!).  I am MAKING history in my home, built by a Confederate veteran.  I am changing the future by modeling change to my children.  This home that has surely seen gross racism and inequality deserves to continue to be something better than it's builder.

Other nations do not remove symbols of past leaders and royalty of whom some  most certainly were oppressive, racist, sexist, and tyrannical.  They do not tear down buildings built by the same leaders of dubious character.  Even Nazi concentration camps are left in place, to allow us to see with our own eyes the potential darkness to which humanity is capable and their inexcusable attempts to morally justify unspeakable acts of atrocity.  They shaped their past, but do not define their present or future.

It is a limiting response to; see history, be appalled, and try to remove it because we are no longer the people displayed.  It does no service to our future to remove the reminders of our flaws.  If we forget history, we are doomed to repeat it.  I do not believe we should remove the Confederate statue that for 109 years has stood in Longview.  It bears consideration to amend its dedication with a placard befitting a modern and just perspective.  I think we should use our response to past wrongs to focus on building and contributing to the future we all can be proud to be a part of, together.  We need to show ourselves to be a better Longview.