He is a war hero, just like Lee and Jackson, who all served their country prior to the war, Lee and Stuart of course, dispatched with Marines by Lincoln to stop John Brown at Harper's Ferry (which is so odd in so many ways). But just as with the kkk and the battle flag, the wrong people use these men and symbols for the wrong things and messages. So as with many, I concede it's time but I can hate it. Many of my black friends have expressed some sympathy to me, both as a historian and as a descendant, while still not hating them coming down.

I think back to when I was growing up in the 70's and my best friend was black. He would come over to the house and we would play "Civil War" every now and then. I had one Yankee hat and one Confederate hat, swords, rifles, etc. So the first time he came over, I says, "now, you're gonna be the Yankee and I'll be the Confederate". He says, "I'll wrestle you for it, I ain't gonna be no damn Yankee". He was stronger than I was so I had to be the damn Yankee, every time we played from then on. And he would grin from ear to ear every time we'd play Civil War - I would try to switch to WWII because I had enough gear that we could both be US, lol. That was both a complicated time and a simple time.