I have always had a fascination for lost causes including a healthy interest in Nazi Germany, the Taliban and the Southern confederates of the US civil war. I’ve absorbed all the top books and movies on the confederacy including Robert E. Lee’s biography.
So when I had a chance this weekend to visit Richmond Virginia (Capitol of the short-lived Southern confederacy) I was hopeful to take in some history. My wife’s cousin Ammad is a bright kid and came over from Bangladesh to study at Richmond University on a full scholarship. Ammads’s Parents are visiting from Bangladesh so I took them along with the wife and kids to visit him. Unfortunately I was the only one in the group who had any interest in civil war history and we spent most of the time in Richmond going to shopping malls. On our last night I was determined to get at least a miniscule glimpse of the history this legendary city has to offer. I marched them all to Monument Avenue and I enjoyed all of the fifteen minutes we were there. Along the Avenue are mostly monuments of confederate Generals. A great sign of tolerance on the part of the now Union government to allow the Southern states to erect monuments to the arguably traitorous generals of the southern rebellion. My two favorite Southern Generals (Stonewall Jackson and Lee) are immortalized there. Of course all these monuments of a rebellion started by a Southern institution marked with racism might seem offensive to some. So the ingenious monument overseers introduced an equalizer. Amongst the Southern Generals on the street is a large monument dedicated to Arthur Ashe, the famed African American tennis player from Richmond who won 3 grand slam titles. His statue boldly raises his racket as if to say “In your face sons of the confederacy! You lost and here I stand a symbol of a better future!”.
So when I had a chance this weekend to visit Richmond Virginia (Capitol of the short-lived Southern confederacy) I was hopeful to take in some history. My wife’s cousin Ammad is a bright kid and came over from Bangladesh to study at Richmond University on a full scholarship. Ammads’s Parents are visiting from Bangladesh so I took them along with the wife and kids to visit him. Unfortunately I was the only one in the group who had any interest in civil war history and we spent most of the time in Richmond going to shopping malls. On our last night I was determined to get at least a miniscule glimpse of the history this legendary city has to offer. I marched them all to Monument Avenue and I enjoyed all of the fifteen minutes we were there. Along the Avenue are mostly monuments of confederate Generals. A great sign of tolerance on the part of the now Union government to allow the Southern states to erect monuments to the arguably traitorous generals of the southern rebellion. My two favorite Southern Generals (Stonewall Jackson and Lee) are immortalized there. Of course all these monuments of a rebellion started by a Southern institution marked with racism might seem offensive to some. So the ingenious monument overseers introduced an equalizer. Amongst the Southern Generals on the street is a large monument dedicated to Arthur Ashe, the famed African American tennis player from Richmond who won 3 grand slam titles. His statue boldly raises his racket as if to say “In your face sons of the confederacy! You lost and here I stand a symbol of a better future!”.
We finished the 15 minutes in front of Robert E. Lee’s monument. We looked up to see the noble hero majestically sitting on his legendary steed Traveller, looking over historic Richmond. After briefing Uncle about what the war was about and who Lee was, we had an odd conversation.
Me: General Lee was arguably one of the most skilled generals throughout history.
Uncle: Is he a hero?
Me: Yes, he was a hero, not only because of his military victories but because he did a lot after the war to help with the reconciliation.
Uncle: So he won the war?
Me: No, he lost.
Uncle: Is he Japanese?
Me: No, he was from Virginian.
Uncle: Lee is a Chinese name. Was he Chinese?
Me: No he wasn’t Japanese or Chinese. He is not a "Bruce Lee" kinda Lee. It would have been a much different war if he was. He was a Virginian.
Uncle: Is he a hero?
Me: Yes, he was a hero, not only because of his military victories but because he did a lot after the war to help with the reconciliation.
Uncle: So he won the war?
Me: No, he lost.
Uncle: Is he Japanese?
Me: No, he was from Virginian.
Uncle: Lee is a Chinese name. Was he Chinese?
Me: No he wasn’t Japanese or Chinese. He is not a "Bruce Lee" kinda Lee. It would have been a much different war if he was. He was a Virginian.
Long pause...
Uncle: I think he was Korean.
Me: OK yes, he was Korean.
Then we went to Denny’s for Ice Cream.
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