History is on the side of preserving the Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. I am not an historian, but I don’t have to be to know this is true. I must only look at the case for destruction and the case for preservation.

The case for destruction is that the Confederacy existed to enslave other human beings. The leaders committed treason because they fought the United States. They killed many U.S. soldiers. Many violated their oaths to the United States. The Naming Commission says the same thing as the Arlington National Cemetery website about the memorial Moses Ezekiel created.

Naming Commission Report

“The memorial offers a nostalgic, mythologized vision of the Confederacy, including highly sanitized depictions of slavery.”

Arlington National Cemetery Website

“The elaborately designed monument offers a nostalgic, mythologized vision of the Confederacy, including highly sanitized depictions of slavery.”

I don’t know which was written first, but it is opinion, not history. As for the rest of the case for destruction, the claims of treason and what the South fought for are opinions too.

The best case for preservation is based on the history of the late 19th century and early 20th century. That actual history contains significant evidence that the leadership and general population of the United States wanted reconciliation. By destroying the monument, we are erasing the history of reconciliation.

Some fellow citizens believe the Confederacy represented an evil that they do not want the country associated with. The Confederacy is a defeated foe. That is all. This view seems to be in the ascendancy. The consequences of challenging this orthodoxy are minor. Yet, people who should, don’t.

Why the reluctance to engage on the part of intellectuals, politicians, and historians who would normally be on the side of preservation? The answer must be that they think a Confederate Memorial in a cemetery is not worth an ounce personal capital. The trend is clear. Only a few years ago cemeteries were off limits. There is a cost of apathy.