Latest news with #ArlingtonNationalCemetery
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hegseth Puts Up Confederate Memorial That Whitewashes Slavery
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that Arlington National Cemetery will be restoring a Confederate monument criticized for misrepresenting the history of slavery. As part of President Donald Trump's efforts to reintroduce Confederate symbols and monuments, Moses Ezekiel's 'beautiful and historic sculpture,' the Confederate Memorial, 'will be rightfully be returned to Arlington National Cemetery near his burial site,' Hegseth said in a social media post. 'It never should have been taken down by woke lemmings. Unlike the Left, we don't believe in erasing American history—we honor it,' Hegseth said. Ezekiel was a Confederate soldier who spent much of his artistic career promoting the 'Lost Cause' myth that the Civil War was just and heroic, and not a treasonous war fought to uphold slavery. After the Confederacy was defeated, Ezekiel moved to Europe and eventually settled in Rome, where he hung the Confederate battle flag in his studio for 40 years. His 32-foot bronze memorial includes an inscription in Latin that frames the Civil War as a 'lost cause' that was nevertheless admirable for its noble principles and resistance to tyranny, according to an archived version of the Arlington Cemetery website. It also sanitizes the violent reality of slavery with figures such as an enslaved woman depicted as a 'Mammy' figure holding a white officer's child, and an enslaved man following his owner to war, according to the website. Ezekiel purposefully included the 'faithful Black servants' to combat what he believed were 'lies' about slavery in Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, according to Hilary A. Herbert, an Alabama lawmaker who pushed for the creation of the Confederates' section at Arlington Cemetery. The artist believed his statue 'correctly' showed Black slaves' support for the Confederate cause, according to Herbert. Hegseth's decision to restore the monument and 'honor' its history, therefore, means the Trump administration is 'honoring' the myth that Black people supported their own enslavement. The Department of Defense declined to respond to criticisms about the monument, pointing only to Hegseth's statement on social media. The administration is also 'honoring' the federal government's decision to abandon Reconstruction and greenlight racial segregation and violence in the South after the Civil War. After the Confederates surrendered in November 1865, the federal government spent more than a decade pursuing a policy of Reconstruction to reunify the nation and transform the South's slave-based society into something more equitable. Arlington National Cemetery was itself founded in 1864 on land seized in from Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's plantation estate, according to the National Park Service. The decision to bury Union soldiers on the property was widely viewed as a way to restore honor to the property, which had been disgraced by Lee's decision to lead the Confederate forces, according to the NPS. The Reconstruction effort, however, ended in 1877 and was replaced by a policy called 'Reconciliation.' The federal government withdrew troops from the South, allowing the former Confederate states to impose racial segregation, deny Black people the right to vote, and terrorize Black communities. Ezekiel's Confederate Memorial, which is also known as 'The Reconciliation Monument,' was created as part of that movement, according to the archived Arlington Cemetery website. As part of 'Reconciliation,' the government created a section for Confederate troops at Arlington National Cemetery, even though Black Union soldiers were denied burial there. In 1906, the government authorized the monument, which was erected in 1914. It was finally removed in 2023 as part of the Biden administration's push to replace Confederate symbols, and even when the monument was standing, some presidents declined to have funeral wreaths laid there on Memorial Day. The move to reinstall the statue is part of a broader push by the Trump administration to bring those Confederate monuments back from the dead. The National Park Service announced on Monday that it is resurrecting a statue of the Confederate Army Gen. Albert Pike, who once wrote that the 'white race, and that race alone, shall govern this country. It is the only one that is fit to govern, and it is the only one that shall.' The 11-foot statue stood outside the Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters in Washington, D.C., from 1898 to 2020, when it was toppled during the Black Lives Matter protests. Pike's monument was reviled from the beginning but was apparently pushed through by the Freemasons—Pike was a prominent leader of the Freemasons and a rumored member of the Ku Klux Klan, according to The New York Times. The National Park Service said in a statement that it was restoring and reinstalling the statue in line with Trump's Executive Order on Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History, which directs federal agencies to 'present a full and accurate picture of the American past,' according to the NPS. Historically, though, it makes little sense to erect a statue of a Confederate general outside the police department of Washington, D.C., which was the center of the Union war effort and was never invaded by the Confederates. The city has opposed the statue for decades and first called on Congress to remove it in early 1992. The NPS stressed that the statue honored Pike's leadership in Freemasonry, not his Civil War activity. It depicts him in civilian clothes, not battle attire. Regarding Freemason membership, Pike said in 1875, 'I took my obligations from white men, not from negroes. When I have to accept negroes as brothers or leave masonry, I shall leave it. Better let the thing drift.' Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hegseth Threatens Another Civil War to Defend ‘Proud' Confederate History
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has vowed not to back down from celebrating America's 'proud' Confederate history. 'We recognize our history,' Hegseth told Fox News host Will Cain on Thursday. 'We don't erase it. We don't follow the woke lemmings off the cliff that want to tear down statues. ... We're proud of our history.' Hegseth was defending the decision to restore a Confederate monument in Arlington National Cemetery that critics say whitewashes the history of slavery in America. Shortly after rebuking those who want to remove Confederate symbols, Hegseth made it clear that he is willing to do whatever it takes to defeat his opposition. 'Our job is to ensure our enemies know exactly what we will do to them if they threaten us up to and including total war,' he said. The monument in question is Moses Ezekiel's The Confederate Memorial. It features an inscription in Latin that describes the Civil War as a 'lost cause' that was honorable for its noble principles and resistance to tyranny. The sculpture also depicts Black people as supporting the Confederate soldiers, insinuating that they wished to remain enslaved. The 32-foot-tall monument offers 'a nostalgic, mythologized vision of the Confederacy, including highly sanitized depictions of slavery,' according to an archived version of the National Cemetery website. It was erected in 1914 and taken down under former President Joe Biden in 2023. The move to restore the sculpture is part of a broader push by the Trump administration to restore references to the Confederacy across the government. The National Park Service announced earlier this week that it is bringing back a statue of Confederate Army Gen. Albert Pike, who once wrote that the 'white race, and that race alone, shall govern this country. It is the only one that is fit to govern, and it is the only one that shall.' The administration has also restored the names of a number of army bases named for Confederate leaders.
The Independent
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Hegseth announces return of Confederate statue that whitewashes slavery to Arlington Cemetery: ‘We honor it'
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced that a Confederate statue which whitewashes slavery would be returned to Arlington National Cemetery in Northern Virginia. 'I'm proud to announce that Moses Ezekiel's beautiful and historic sculpture — often referred to as 'The Reconciliation Monument' — will be rightfully ... returned to Arlington National Cemetery near his burial site,' Hegseth wrote on X Tuesday evening. 'It never should have been taken down by woke lemmings. Unlike the Left, we don't believe in erasing American history—we honor it.' The monument had been removed in 2023 as part of the Biden administration's push for the take-down of Confederate symbols. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden said Confederate symbols belonged in museums, not public squares. 'I can understand the anger and anguish that people feel' because of 'systemic racism,' he said. The Trump administration is doing a U-turn on this strategy. During a visit to Fort Bragg, North Carolina in June, Trump said he was reversing a number of name changes to military bases that previously honored Confederate leaders. Ezekiel was a Confederate soldier who pushed the 'Lost Cause' myth -- that the Civil War was valid and heroic, and not a war to keep slavery. Following the defeat of the Confederacy, Ezekiel left the U.S. for Europe and settled in Rome, where he hung the Confederate battle flag in his studio for four decades, according to Civil War Times Magazine. His bronze memorial, measuring 32 feet, has a Latin inscription that claims that the Civil War was a 'lost cause' that remained admirable because of its noble principles and effort to resist tyranny, an archived version of the Arlington Cemetery website states. The monument also attempts to hide the violence that slaves were subjected to with figures including an enslaved woman holding a white officer's child and a man accompanying his owner to war, the website notes. Ezekiel intentionally included 'faithful Black servants' in his sculpture against what he deemed misrepresentations of slavery in Uncle Tom's Cabin, an 1852 novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, according to Hilary Herbert. The Alabama lawmaker and secretary of the Navy had argued for the inclusion of the Confederate section at the military cemetery in the late 19th century. Ezekiel thought that his statue represented the support of Black slaves for the Confederate cause, Herbert believed, The Daily Beast noted. As such, the statue appears to suggest that Black people backed their own enslavement. The monument, first unveiled in 1914, also appears to memorialize the federal government's decision to leave Reconstruction behind and allow for racial segregation and violence across the South following the Civil War. After the end of the Civil War, the federal government worked for more than 10 years to reunify the country and make the South fairer. That effort, called Reconstruction, ended in 1877 and was replaced by Reconciliation, with the federal government pulling back troops from the South and allowing former Confederate states to enact racial segregation, stop Black people from voting, and oppress Black communities. Ezekiel's memorial is also called 'The Reconciliation Monument.' It was created as part of that movement, the archived Arlington Cemetery website states. On Monday, the National Park Service announced it is bringing back a statue of Confederate Army General Albert Pike. He once wrote that the 'white race, and that race alone, shall govern this country. It is the only one that is fit to govern, and it is the only one that shall.' It stood outside the Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters in Washington, D.C. between 1898 and 2020, when it was toppled by protesters during Black Lives Matter protests. 'The restoration aligns with federal responsibilities under historic preservation law as well as recent executive orders to beautify the nation's capital and re-instate pre-existing statues,' the National Park Service said in a statement.
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Yahoo
Second North Country Honor Flight takes off Saturday
PLATTSBURGH — Ahead of the North Country Honor Flight's second flight of the season Saturday morning, Assemblyman Billy Jones presented a $50,000 check to organizers. The funds will help cover flight and travel expenses for local veterans to visit the Arlington National Cemetery and other veterans memorials in Washington, D.C. 'The North Country Honor Flight is an incredible organization that I am extremely proud to be able to support each and every year,' Jones, D-Chateaugay Lake, said. 'Showing support to our local heroes in such an incredible way, by sending them to our nation's capital to be recognized for their service and dedication to our country, is an amazing opportunity and a great showing of our community's appreciation of our local veterans.' Jones presented the check to Barrie Finnegan, executive director of the North Country Honor Flight on Thursday. 'I am incredibly grateful for the Assemblyman's continued support for the Honor Flight and our veterans,' Finnegan said. 'We take great pride in our program's offerings and are looking forward to the three remaining flights of 2025.' North Country Honor Flight is a 100% volunteer-led nonprofit organization committed to honoring America's veterans by providing them with free, first-class trips to Washington, D.C. These trips allow the veterans to reflect, remember, and receive the recognition for their service. The next North Country Honor Flight is scheduled for Saturday. The flight will honor and transport 30 veterans from New York and Vermont — primarily Vietnam War veterans — on a journey to Washington, D.C., to visit the memorials built in their honor. The day will begin with a send-off ceremony at 7 a.m. at the US Oval, featuring the public, local veterans, families and supporters. The community is encouraged to attend and show appreciation for these American heroes as they embark on this unforgettable experience. This flight is sponsored by Harmony Golf Club, whose annual 2024 golf tournament fundraiser made this mission possible. The Honor Flight organization shared that the Harmony Golf Club tournament has become a successful and beloved tradition — the 2025 tournament is already underway, continuing its legacy of honoring veterans through community generosity and involvement. For more information about future flights or how to support the mission, visit For more information visit or contact Jerika Manning at 518-364-6503 or northcountryhonorflight@
Wall Street Journal
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
Pride When the U.S. Army Goes Rolling Along
Regarding 'Patriotism and Protests Stir the Nation' (U.S. News, June 16): I want to land firmly on the 'pro' side and thank President Trump and the organizers. Every aspect of the parade touched me personally. My father enlisted in January 1944 and served in the Army until his death in 1973. While in the Counterintelligence Corps, he was awarded multiple medals including a Bronze Star, and he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. I spent most of my childhood overseas, where an Army parade was a very anticipated and celebrated event, in part because there were none of the usual community activities enjoyed in civilian America. The parades always included marching soldiers in perfect cadence, a color guard carrying the U.S. and regimental flags, and a military band playing patriotic songs. At Christmas since there were no department stores featuring Santa Claus, he would arrive in a helicopter on the parade grounds.
