Lee’s Legacy Extended Beyond the Civil War and into Systems Designed to Limit Black Freedom and Education
Robert E. Lee was known for doing the dirty work of stopping John Brown at Harper Ferry, Virginia. John Brown was the famous white abolitionist that fought against slavery. Robert E. Lee also helped the United States in the permanent destruction of Mexican claims to their lands in the war of 1846. Some historians claim that Lee was a “benevolent slave owner” because of some grand scheme to free the slaves if they would fight for the slave owners and the Confederacy, but before full-scale use of those slaves that might be suckered the South was defeated.
Blacks that did fight for the South were few in number and in no way can be compared to the number that fought for their freedom as Union soldiers. Some House Negroes (often called manservants), and a few others were forced to cook for the confederacy while others forced to contribute in other ways as slaves. They were used and abused under the threat of death or being sold “down river” (New Orleans) if they hesitated in any way with obeying the orders of pro-slavery forces.
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The “Lost Cause” Mentality
Lee may have been responsible for the “Lost Cause” mentality of the South which Lee perpetuated to create a bogus form of southern honor that dismissed slavery as a reason for their war. This sham idea was perpetuated in the movie Gone with the Wind. It is my thinking that Robert E. Lee may have influenced the Booker T. Washington formula, which sought to accommodate racism by allowing bigots to dictate to African Americans the type of education and jobs they were to have. Booker T. Washington sought to adhere to the Robert E Lee formula by giving up civil rights demands for a slave-type education.
This education consisted of learning how to sow, cook, and wait on white people’s needs. In the early days, many Black colleges used the curriculum based on the bigoted Robert E. Lee model of education. His ghost is still doing some dirty work!
Segregation and Institutional Control
Lee’s idea of schools for Black people, involved the idea that Blacks should be obedient to bigoted leaders and institutions. Right after the Civil War racist Whites used a corrupted form of Episcopalian philosophy by keeping African Americans in segregated schools and churches rather than trying to recruit them into an integrated society. This type of racial “moderation” that Lee believed in created segregated schools so that bigots could control black educational needs.
Robert E Lee was no friend of Black people. He was a racist bigot who sought to create institutions that the former slave owners could control to keep Blacks in a state of servitude. The former slave owners sought to create institutions that would keep Blacks away from academic pursuits and maintain segregation. Some two-year colleges were created for this purpose so as to offer lower level degrees to keep Blacks away from universities. San Antonio College was once the “White college.”
How Racial Oppression Continues
The road to end racial oppression must start with how the forms of oppression change but still do not disappear, and what transmissions from the past keep racial hatred going. Microaggressions and macroaggressions (Loud-mouth “Karens” and racial actions and comments), and other forms are transmitted from the past in order to maintain white privilege.
Microaggressions are defined as every day, subtle, intentional and unintentional behaviors that convey some bias (often racial) toward marginalized groups and individuals, while macroaggressions are overt racist comments or actions. This might include questioning the credentials of a teacher or of attacking an idea that questions their authority.
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