Plainly, Gov. Paul LePage will never be a historian. He has become a victim of the great Confederate myth — a myth started shortly after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Much of its roots can be traced to the invasion of disreputable carpetbaggers.
Slavery has always been the issue. The war exposed evils, particularly the immorality of slavery. As time moved on, the thought of one’s ancestors actually advocating this immoral lifestyle became embarrassing, so history needed changing. That has been accomplished by the same marketing techniques that is employed to sell unneeded products — subtle to be sure.
Heroes were made of what some called traitors. Statutes were erected to those make-believe heroes. Their names were used for the naming of military bases and even children.
My high school teacher personalized history by relating stories about her own grandpappy, who hid in a hollow log from the bad Yankees, and her own grandmother, who hid the family silver by throwing it into the well. At monthly assembly, the invited speaker, usually a Christian minister, would get everyone’s attention by starting his sermon with a joke about Remus, the lazy ignorant black. He got his laugh.
That was allowed to continue until the sickness spread to the president and Maine’s governor.
Robert E. Lee said it himself, namely that statues will keep the wounds open. We all must say “stop.”
Jim Keough, Litchfield
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