City of Rockville Rejects County’s Request to Take Controversial Confederate Statue (MD)

[struggle4progress]

BY AARON KRAUT
Published: 2016.02.10 10:26

The City of Rockville Council said Monday it doesn’t want the statue of a Confederate soldier to be moved to city property.

The council, with a 4-1 vote, rejected Montgomery County’s request to move the controversial statue to a spot in the city’s Beall Dawson Historic Park ...

Leggett’s desire to move the life-sized bronze of a Confederate calvary private, which was erected in 1913 by The United Daughters of the Confederacy, touched off a debate on the county’s role in the Civil War and how the government should treat historic memorials.

The statue was created to commemorate the soldiers from the county who served in the Confederacy during the Civil War. Many in the county objected to moving the statue to parks near them. Some suggested it be packed away in storage or donated to historical groups elsewhere ...

http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/Web-2016/City-of-Rockville-Rejects-Countys-Request-to-Take-Controversial-Confederate-Statue/

[mgmaggiemg]

1. agree it belongs in a museum...

[Ghost in the Machine]

3. Why?

I see a LOT of posts saying that schools need to be renamed, State Parks, etc. Little do a LOT of people know, there were several Acts enacted by the War Department that gave Confederate Soldiers full Military Honors, and the same rights as Union Soldiers, and all US Soldiers today.

Trying to paraphrase from memory, but the War Department said that "the Civil War was a dark spot in American History, but BOTH SIDES fought bravely & valiantly for a cause that they believed in, and needed to be recognized for this". IIRC, they even made a "token payment" to the widow of the last surviving Confederate Soldier after he passed on.

*** Please note that I am NOT taking sides with the Confederacy, just stating facts. I am originally from Florida but now reside in East Tennessee, which I consider my "home" now, and East TN broke off with the rest of the State and sided with the Union. Further more, I have no dog in this hunt. The Civil War started 100 years before I was born. My parents never owned slaves, nor did my grandparents or great-grandparents.... except maybe on the Cherokee side of the family, where it was common for the winner of warring tribes to take any survivors as slaves. I also don't buy into the "white guilt" trap, either. Hell, the "white man" wiped out many of my ancestors, stole their land, and sent the ramaining ones off to live on Reservations.

I feel no responsibility for the actions of others from before I was born. Personally, I am a true Hippie in heart and soul. I do not judge ANYONE for anything. I treat EVERYONE the way I want to be treated.... with Peace, Love, Respect & pure Human Decency. People that are hanging on to the past are dragging a huge anchor that is keeping them from moving forward in life. People need to unchain themselves from that anchor and see how high they can fly. We are ALL ONE PEOPLE and need to share ONE LOVE among each other.

Peace within, Peace between, Peace among...

Ghost

[struggle4progress]

4. Busting the myth that Congress made Confederate vets into U.S. vets

By Sue Sturgis on July 24, 2015 12:16 PM

... One claim that's been circulating among Confederate apologists .. would have us believe that Congress passed a law in 1958 giving Confederate veterans status under law equal to U.S. veterans ...

.... the law does not do what Confederate apologists say it does. It certainly does not "pardon" Confederate veterans, nor does not generally give them status "equal to" U.S. veterans.

The original legislation was introduced to raise pensions for widows and former widows of deceased veterans of the Spanish-American War. In committee, it was amended to include widows of deceased U.S. veterans of the Civil War and Indian War, as well as widows of Confederate veterans.

"It is my understanding that the Senator from Louisiana [Mr. Long] is the author of the amendment providing for pensions for the approximately 1,000 widows of Confederate veterans," Sen. Lyndon Johnson (D-Texas), the Senate's majority leader and presiding officer, said during floor debate over the measure, according to the Congressional Record. "The bill was unanimously reported by the Committee on Finance. There is much interest in it, and I hope the Senate will act on it unanimously" ...

http://www.southernstudies.org/2015/07/busting-the-myth-that-congress-made-confederate-ve.html

[Ghost in the Machine]

6. Congressional Act of 9 March 1906

Congressional Act of 9 March 1906

We Honor Our Fallen Ancestors
(P.L. 38, 59th Congress, Chap. 631-34 Stat. 56)

Act of 9 March 1906 headstones for the graves of Confederates who died, primarily in Union prison camps and were buried in Federal cemeteries.

Remarks: This act formally reaffirmed Confederate soldiers as military combatants with legal standing. It granted recognition to deceased Confederate soldiers commensurate with the status of deceased Union soldiers.

U.S. Public Law 810, Approved by 17th Congress 26 February 1929

(45 Stat 1307 – Currently on the books as 38 U.S. Code, Sec. 2306)

This law, passed by the U.S. Congress, authorized the “Secretary of War to erect headstones over the graves of soldiers who served in the Confederate Army and to direct him to preserve in the records of the War Department the names and places of burial of all soldiers for whom such headstones shall have been erected.”

Remarks: This act broadened the scope of recognition further for all Confederate soldiers to receive burial benefits equivalent to Union soldiers. It authorized the use of U.S. government (public) funds to mark Confederate graves and record their locations.

more at link: https://www.change.org/p/south-carolina-governor-put-the-battle-flag-back-at-the-confederate-soldiers-memorial-in-columbia-sc?source_location=petition_footer&algorithm=promoted&grid_position=4

It was a stain on our Country and, as stated, I have no dog in this fight, nor do I side with, or condone, the Confederacy or slavery. I was just putting information out there...

Peace,

Ghost

[struggle4progress]

8. 38 USC 2306 applies to as yet unmarked graves; and it does not confer

on confederates any right to be interred in national cemeteries.

[Ghost in the Machine]

10. What is the difference between a "Federal Cemetary" and a "National Cemetary"? Not that it matters,

as my point was this, which you fail to address:

Remarks: This act formally reaffirmed Confederate soldiers as military combatants with legal standing. It granted recognition to deceased Confederate soldiers commensurate with the status of deceased Union soldiers.

The ONLY point that I was making is that people who disrespect and talk shit about Confedertae Soldiers are doing it to someone who has the same equal, LEGAL standing as any other US veteran. Period. If you can't understand that, I can't help you any further and there is no need to continue this conversation. You are certainly entitled to your own opinion, but you are NOT entitled to make up your own facts.

I KNOW that there is still racial struggle and inequality but there is nothing that I, as one person, can do to change it other than what I already do, which is to treat EVERYONE with Love, Kindness, Respect and Compassion. I have already cast off my anchor, it's up to others to do the same now.

Peace,

Ghost

[mgmaggiemg]

5. re why

well you said it..."people that on hanging on to the past are dragging a huge anchor that is keeping them (and the people they kill, or hurt MY WORDS NOT YOURS)...from moving forward in life as it also MY WORDS keeps the nation from moving forward toward human rights in actuality instead of on paper...because the truth is...you know it an I know it...that the people who don't believe that beauty is as beauty does...the ugly bigots...use the excuse of the confederacy to justify their harmful and ugly acts...what if the german people had stop hitler...by simply speaking out...what if we had stopped slavery..much sooner...you are an intelligent person and you know that heinous acts are committed with the permission of the good people not the demons...the demons may commit them ...but not without our permission...that is why....I am not for white washing...I am putting these public artifacts in a public museum where they will still be treated well but in the proper historical context instead of letting the bigots ...say that the display of the artifacts out in public is permission for them to commit their ugly violent acts.....tax payers will still be able to visit them in a museum where they can thoughtfully reflection on them and have access to more literature about them and their history.

I am sorry that was so long...and peace within between and among is a laudable goal....that I can get with...

[Ghost in the Machine]

7. Very well stated, thank you!

No need to apologize for a long answer, either. It actually said things that I didn't, but that I can also get behind. Thank you for your well thought out contribution..

Peace,

Ghost

[mgmaggiemg]

9. cheers, Maggie ;)

[Journeyman]

2. "I have a hard time understanding why a government is under any obligation . . .

I have a hard time understanding why a government is under any obligation to display a privately-funded memorial to people who fought against the United States.

A statue is not Civil War history. The facts of the Civil War are history and remain available to anyone who wishes to consider them. Civil War sites remain available throughout the region.

This statue is history only in that it reflects a particular group's early 20th century action. There are value judgements to be made here (as there are everyday in life). What's the value of putting this thing in a museum? Invite the DOC to take their statue back at their cost. If they don't want it, melt it down and let the metal become something else.

I'm a little disappointed that the County hasn't acted more decisively here.

From the comments at the linked article, a sensible take by Blaine Collison

[LiberalEsto]

11. I live right outside Rockville, MD

I think the dratted statue should be either demolished or hauled to the Transfer Station where it can be set up next to the piles of mulch,