Opinion
Black Being Unrealistic
By Denise Pierce, Sterling
[Jan. 26, 2003] Was it only a month ago that the Republican majority leader in the Senate was replaced because he didn't realize being in favor of segregation was morally reprehensible? Apparently, the news hasn't reached Del. Richard H. Black (R-Loudoun).
Black opposes placing a life-size statue in Richmond of President Abraham Lincoln seated with his son Tad.
The statue does not represent a president gloating because he preserved the union of the "United" States. It is meant to commemorate the historical fact of his visit to our state capital with his son a few weeks before the end of the Civil War, days after the Confederate capital fell to Union troops.
Aren't most Republicans proud to say theirs is the party of Lincoln? During the recent upheaval over Sen. Trent Lott's remarks, I think I heard Lincoln's name used by several prominent Republicans to highlight the party's commitment to inclusiveness.
Not only is Black opposed to having a statue of one of our greatest presidents placed in our capital, but he also declares it similar to placing the Confederate flag at the Lincoln Memorial. He also proposes a special license plate for the Sons of the Confederacy with the Confederate flag on it.
I guess he thinks he will win the loyalty of all those Virginians who appreciate their Confederate heritage.
My ancestors fought for the South in the Civil War, and several of my close relatives were active in the United Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy. According to my family's oral history, "we had many black families who lived on our plantation, and they were treated very well before, during and after the Civil War."
Right. When I was a child, black tenant farmers were housed at my great-grandmother's farm during planting season in a shack used to store fertilizer during the winter. I wish I had spoken out to my family much sooner that its treatment of African Americans was morally reprehensible then and that it is just as wrong to brag now about "how well they were treated."
I, for one, am tired of white people speaking in code to each other, as though we are all part of one big group of people who understand that things were so much better in the "good old days" of slavery and segregation.
Like Lott, Black better get a reality check on how the immorality of slavery has affected millions of Americans and better stop promoting the idea that things were better for all Americans "in the good old days."
- extreme. ineffective. dick black.