Sanctimonious New York Hypocrites Remove Busts of Lee, Stonewall

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Governor Cuomo has ordered the removal of busts of both Confederate Generals Lee and Jackson from the CUNY Hall of Fame. This is the governor of a state named after a vicious racist and slave trader. The city council president, who celebrated a domestic terrorist this past summer, applauds the action.

But Democrats are allowed to be hypocrites.

Governor Cuomo tweeted about his order to remove the busts. “Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson will be removed from the CUNY hall of great Americans because New York stands against racism,” Cuomo tweeted. “There are many great Americans, many of them New Yorkers worthy of a spot in this great hall. These two confederates are not among them.” . . .

This is the sanctimonious man who decided that a NYC bridge would be named after his mob-tied father. This is the man who is governor of a state and city named after a notorious slave trader.

“Clearly Confederate Army Generals are not great Americans and have no business being part of this display,” City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito told Gothamist in an email. You can agree with her point of view but just know that she is the woman who regaled and honored a Puerto Rican terrorist at the recent Puerto Rican Day parade. She herself is a hard-left agitator.

The point is we are all imperfect.

The busts were put there by Democrats in the United Daughters of the Confederacy in the first half of the 19th century. That group has since been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is itself a hate group.

At the turn of the last century, NYU established a Great Americans Hall of Fame at the urging of Dr. Henry Mitchell McCracken, an esteemed and accomplished educator, who served as Chancellor from 1891 to 1910.

The Hall of Fame was popular in its day but, as visits dried up in later years, it was turned over to CUNY.

The Democrat Daughters of the Confederacy nominated Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson for the hall. Stonewall’s bust was unveiled in 1957 and Lee’s in 1923.

1957 unveiling of Stonewall Jackson bust
1923 unveiling of Robert E. Lee bust to further Reconciliation

In general, the beautiful marble and bronze statues were brought in to commemorate accomplishment and opportunity. It was meant as a counter to the corruption of the Gilded Age and a return to idealism.

Nominations were simple and these two busts were put in to unite a nation that still remembered the Civil War.

MacCracken allowed the flexible process of nominations because he wanted the hall to “be completely democratic.” If a citizen was dead 25 years, anyone could nominate a notable American, with winners selected every five years.

The nominations of Lee and Jackson were part of the Reconciliation Lincoln dreamed of. They were placed in the soldiers’ section.

There is a valid criticism of only two black Americans being placed in the hall but why haven’t blacks nominated other heroes? There are many remarkable black heroes.

Many suggest that notable black Americans should be put in place of Lee and Stonewall. Let’s hope they don’t put race baiters or communists in their stead.

After fighting a horrific war that killed over 640,000, perhaps as many as 850,000, we have gone from Reconciliation to fighting it again, forcing the South to lose once more. The “democratic” vision of MacCracken is dead.

 

 


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Rose E Hagood
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Rose E Hagood
6 years ago

“This is the governor of a state named for a vicious racist and slave trader.”
Are you saying that New York is named for a vicious racist and slave trader?
Please explain.

Rose E Hagood
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Rose E Hagood
6 years ago
Reply to  Rose E Hagood

OK, finally saw the link. Interesting. I thought New York was named after the area called York in England.

Jim Hawkins
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Jim Hawkins
6 years ago

Dear Sara Hancock Noble,

You wrote “The busts were put there by Democrats in the United Daughters of the Confederacy in the first half of the 19th century”.

The War Between The States started in 1861, the latter half of the 19th century.

1923 and 1957 both occurred in the 20th century.

Here’s a hint: We are now living in 2017, well within the first half of the 21st century.

Get your act together.

Zigmont
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Zigmont
6 years ago

Calling Governor Terry McAuliffe, time for a name change,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Queen Elizabeth I, also known as The Virgin Queen, reigned from 1533 to 1603 and sponsored the expansion of the English slave trade into the British colonies of America and India, according to the national archives of the U.K. When Virginia gained statehood 1788, it owed its name to the late queen.