In San Francisco, Virus is Contained but Schools Are Still Closed

[Rob Wick]

Quote:I didn't interpret David's comments that way.

Quote:My opinion is that the party who "would accept war rather than let [the nation] perish" is in much the superior moral position.

I'm not sure exactly how else you can interpret that, Gene. The way I read it is that Lincoln, because of his opposition to slavery, and Lee, because he fought to establish a slaveholding republic, are poles apart in moral greatness. Therefire, those who support Lincoln are right and those who support Lee are wrong. That's the textbook definition of moral high ground.

Quote:It's not just Lincoln's reputation.
It's not just tearing down a statue or changing the name of a school. It's deeper and much more serious than that.

It's a lack of respect for history, people and community, and law. It's the destruction of public and private property that has caused millions of dollars of damage and ruined communities.
It's about standing up for what is right and worthwhile.

Gene, for some reason I didn't see this in my feed yesterday. I obviously looked over it.

In the first place, it is about reputation, a statue and a school.

History, in and of itself, is not something to be respected or disrespected. History is the serious attempt to tell what happened in a community or society using primary and secondary resources and attempting to tell the story without bias or prejudice. If you respect anything in this, it's the last part. Obviously, people have differing opinions on whether that happens or doesn't (hence David's obsession with the 1619 Project), but as long as one side puts out the information in good faith, they have a right to bring it out for discussion. No one, that I know of, believes that the 1619 Project should have never been published, but they question the conclusions it reaches. Also, rescinding the Pulitzer Prize that the series won will not magically make it disappear from public consciousness, although it would actually have to appear in public consciousness for that to even be possible.

I fail to see how any group who petitions a council or board to remove a statue is somehow showing disrespect for the people, community, or the law.

As for the tearing down of statues, vandalism is indeed against the law, but it's not on the same level as robbery, burglary, rape, or murder. It's generally a misdemeanor, and it is punished based on how a statute is written. What people fail to realize is that if someone's voice doesn't receive a respectful hearing by those in power, many times some will scream in order to be heard. While there are numerous ways to scream that fall within the boundaries of the law, when you don't believe the law protects you, one cannot be surprised that some will bypass that. Does it make it right? No, but it can be understood.

How many Lincoln statues have been torn down? As far as I can see, just one. Some will argue that this is one too many, but I don't see a huge wave of destruction where Lincoln is concerned. A community has the right to determine what its collective values are and present petitions to its civic leaders for attention. If a community wants to remove a statue of Lincoln, or whomever, and they can garner enough support to make that happen, then it will. If the people who oppose such a removal are able to mount an election challenge that removes those who made the decision, then it will have been proven to be the wrong move and those responsible are turned out of office.

Isn't that the textbook definition of democracy?

Best
Rob

By the way, you may not write letters to the editor or articles, but you do know where to find great pizza. That's worth more than either one of those other things in my book.