Smith: The new clothes of the political left

A bust of Confederate Lt. Gen. Alexander P. "Old A.P." Stewart is seen outside of the Hamilton County Courthouse on Wednesday, Aug. 16, in Chattanooga, Tenn.
A bust of Confederate Lt. Gen. Alexander P. "Old A.P." Stewart is seen outside of the Hamilton County Courthouse on Wednesday, Aug. 16, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

In 1837 Danish author Hans Christian Anderson published" The Emperor's New Clothes," a fable that appeals to both children and adults. In a nutshell, two tailors deliver the emperor a suit of clothes that will delight all of his subjects except those "unfit for their positions, stupid or incompetent." Of course, the tailors' "suit" is imaginary, and the naked emperor brazenly parades before his admiring subjects. They remain silent, not wanting to appear unfit, stupid or incompetent. At last a child blurts out, "But, he's wearing nothing at all!" Afterwards, reason returned.

Should we be so fortunate to have an innocent voice of truth in American society 180 years later? There is hope. The political left's obsession with destroying any true history of the War Between the States represents such an honest disclosure of its true political power grab. As a result, truth and reason are surfacing.

Such evidence is in this week's Wall Street Journal article, Confederate Dunces. It berates New York City Mayor De Blasio for jumping aboard the destroy-Confederate-monuments bandwagon as a political tool to appease left-wing supporters. Like Christian's fable, the left's irrational cause is so flimsy it fails to hide their naked politics. De Blasio's political stunt is as transparent as Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke's shameful comments about our Confederate cemetery and local NAACP leaders' desire to remove the bust of Gen. Alexander P. Stewart.

Stewart's most visible contribution to his community, according to the excellent biography, "Soldier of Tennessee" by Chattanooga attorney Sam Elliott, was not as a Confederate soldier, but in his role as commissioner of Chickamauga National Military Park from 1890 until his death in 1908. He envisioned a park that would honor the sacrifices of that great battle and help heal the wounds that led to its occurrence. His bust represents a noble character and the efforts of those who would besmirch his many accomplishments as a teacher, soldier, historian, and tireless government servant are trivial by comparison.

However, the controversy is not about Stewart. The real issue is the relentless power grab by left-wing activists who want to change our history to suit their political agenda. The illusion of "white supremacy" fit perfectly, until their real purpose was disclosed.

But, assume the statues really are "symbols of hate" for no reason other than leftist elites deem them so. Then, to be fair, let's remove the Lincoln Memorial as it honors a racist. In his famous debate with Democratic Sen. Stephen Douglas, Lincoln said, "I am not, nor have ever been, in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and, ... there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality."

Next, consider Dr. Martin Luther King. As a Christian spiritual leader, Dr. King espoused, first of all, love. However, he also upheld other standards of the Bible, including its condemnation of homosexuality. In 1958, writing in Ebony magazine, he suggested a young man seek psychiatric treatment to deal with his "problem" of having improper feelings for boys. King wrote, "The type of feeling you have toward boys is probably not an innate tendency, but something that has been culturally acquired." That is homophobic hate speech. King memorials and street names must go.

How absurd.

Put on some clothes!

Roger Smith, a local author, is a frequent contributor to the Times Free Press.

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