In the United States the statue is pulled one after the other. In particular, pictures of Commander Robert E. Lee are removed at a rapid pace.

Is that right News hours Talks to American historian Jonathan Jones and accompanies him to the tomb of Leigh’s commander-in-chief and right-hand man: Stonewall Jackson.

The losers rule

Back in time. Where history is usually written by conquerors, it is not given in the United States. On the contrary: the losers of the Civil War (1861-1865) did everything they could to twist history to their liking.

So, decades after that war, statues of the most important generals who fought before the secession were erected everywhere.

Commander Robert E. Lee picked up the cake: he was adorned with hundreds of statues, parks named after him and an elite university (Washington & Lee in Lexington, Virginia) still bears part of his name. But Lee’s statues are now rapidly being pulled from their foundations.

Just? Of course, says Jonathan Jones, a historian at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. “They are idols of white supremacy. To me, they celebrated their day. They must be pulled from their foundations.”

Jones says this personally. Removing the statues is very sensitive. “Many Americans still do not understand the fact that a civil war broke out to protect slavery in the old southern states. That is why those states wanted to secede from the union.”

‘Lost Case’

Until recently, the tomb where Lee’s right hand was buried by Stonewall Jackson had his name on it. But it is now called the more neutral: the oak grove. His statue is still there. It has now become a place of pilgrimage for the rights of the people and a tribute to the so-called ‘lost cause’. It is said to be the high way of life of the old South, devastated by the loss of the Civil War.

Jones: “This ‘Lost Cause’ has two key figures: Lee and Jackson. Jackson is now revered as a heroic commander. Those who admire him come to this grave to pay homage to him and his legacy.”

African Americans

The statues have been removed or are still on one side, while the other is trying to excavate and recover the sunken past. A group of African-Americans in Hogerstown, western Maryland, are planning to renovate the city’s African-American slum. Objective: To inspire the pride of African Americans in their empire.

News hours He walked through the African-American ghetto with two members, Reggie Turner and Dariens Moore. Search for the “wonderful past” of the neighborhood and the homes that stand there.

Grungewheel is a recently renovated house in the neighborhood. Turner: “We need to find a tenant who can do justice to the house and the neighborhood. Who knows about the African-American past and the possibilities in this neighborhood.”