He grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, and lived a life of white privilege provided by de-facto segregation. Robert Edward Lee personified the myths of a romantic era, a righteous cause and contented slaves who were better off than they had been in Africa. Seidule finished his book before the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, which made his research and writing even more soul-wrenching. Embedded in the 2021 military budget are directives to change the names of Army bases named for confederates. The monuments and confederate names elsewhere also must go, Seidule writes, observing that otherwise they serve the same purpose as lynchings — to enforce white supremacy.

Source: ABC News January 26, 2021 18:00 UTC