It’s time for leaders to lead

It was understandable when protesters wanted to rid the country of statues to Confederate generals.  I too think they should be confined to historical museums.  Even statues celebrating confederate soldiers in dozens of town squares across the South seemed products of another time and should also be sitting in historical museums.

When the battle to erase the public history of slavery began to gather steam, I became concerned that the idea had morphed into something more.  For 80 years, slavery had been legal in the United States of America.  While it was repugnant and horrific, it only echoed legal slavery in other countries around the world, even in Europe and England which had only recently abolished the system during the time the American colonies began chaffing at being tied to England.

Many of the Founding Fathers were legal slave-holders and two of our early presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson also held slaves.

The profit of slavery wasn’t confined to Southern Planters.  Many New England merchants made fortunes as the result of items produce from the effects of slavery.

So when efforts came to tear down statues of leading Americans who had made a living from slavery, I became concerned that doing so would only lead to other Americans who could be considered racist.  President Andrew Jackson was the first who came to my mind.  Jackson hated Native Americans and led the removal of Eastern tribes along the Trail of Tears  to west of the Mississippi, so he and  his friends could take those lands for themselves.  If there ever was a racist – I think Jackson would be at the top of the list.

Then, the mob ran wild.  U.S.Grant,  Abraham Lincoln and dozens of other American leaders fell under the gaze of protesters.  It was then that I realized, this had almost nothing to do with racism.  I thought, at first, it was an anti-male protest.  Then I finally got it.

The move to remove these statues and other elements of American history, wasn’t aimed at getting rid of the dark side of America.  It was a move to eliminate the culture of the country.

The point has been made by others, that this current effort to erase American culture, echoes the French Revolution which eliminated centuries of French culture and eventually replaced a King with a Dictator.

Rule by mobs often lead to unintended consequences.  And mob rule only flourishes when leaders kowtow to the power of the mob and ignore the results of their actions.

It’s time our leaders, from local city governments, to the highest positions of the land, put an end to mob rule and began to enforce the law.