From Long Island-On Wednesday, August 16th, I accompanied members of my staff to the property of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, to remove two memorial plaques on a tree (or at least the third incarnation of the tree) planted on the property by General Robert E. Lee in the mid-1840s.
It is a fact that General Lee was a founding member of St. John’s Episcopal Church while he was stationed at Fort Hamilton and served as a lay leader (warden) of the parish during that time.
The fact also is that he was a gifted engineer and a brilliant military strategist whose tactics are still studied and taught in military academies. Most historical accounts provide a picture of his integrity, honesty, leadership, and valor. And except for leading the army of the Confederacy against the United States in an effort to preserve slavery, and therefore committing treason, he was by most accounts an outstanding historical figure.
So why in heaven’s name would anyone seek to remove his image or a plaque in his memory on a tree he planted on church property in Brooklyn?
More here-
http://www.dioceseli.org/media/diocesan-news/its-not-iconoclasm-it-is-anti-jim-crow-racism
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