Opinion
Towe on Black
By Eleanore C. Towe (D-Blue Ridge)
[Jan. 30, 2003] I am bound by good conscience to speak about an embarrassment to us here in Loudoun County. A delegate representing eastern Loudoun County in the General Assembly has chosen to insinuate himself into a discussion of whether a statue of President Abraham Lincoln should be placed at the historic Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond.
The delegate is reported to have said that a statue of Lincoln should not be erected anywhere in the state of Virginia!
Del. Richard H. Black (Loudoun), who belongs to the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln, has his eyes on a prize -- the position of attorney general of Virginia -- and he wishes to garner votes down in the capital of Virginia.
Black has become an outspoken force for dissension and controversy. A leader should be working toward understanding and healing of old wounds and bringing people together. Listen to these words spoken by Lincoln in March 1865:
"With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan -- to do all which may achieve a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
Lincoln was a leader, a man to be honored through the ages.
I am troubled, as I am sure many citizens, Democrats, independents and Republicans are, by Black's behavior. I suspect there is a darker side to the debate.
We have come too far in this country to turn back to the inequities of the past. It is time for good and ethical people to speak out against public officials whose words and deeds are unacceptable and abhorrent.
There should not be a single place in this United States where a statue of Lincoln and his words of wisdom are not welcome.
- extreme. ineffective. dick black.