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Some want to prosecute the dead

In reflecting on the controversy about statues and flags, I was reminded of Shakespeare’s insightful lines, spoken by Marc Antony in “Julius Caesar”, Act 3, Scene 2: “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.”

All of us are imperfect creatures. We err in judgment and in deed. Yet, most of us would admit that all humans have redeeming qualities, which in most instances are sufficient to overcome damnation by our friends, acquaintances, and loved ones. We forgive, perhaps, because we know that we need forgiveness. All of us live in glass houses.

None of us would care to be judged for eternity by one bad deed or act of malice. We might even take offense that someone would do so without knowing why we might have been driven or lured to commit such an offense or series of offenses. We might take further offense by someone judging us by cultural standards and norms that did not exist during our lifetime, but which evolved over the following decades. Indeed, what are considered offenses now, might not have been such in other times.

George Washington owned slaves, as did many of the nation’s founders. Slavery was originally an economically driven means of production rather than a doctrine of white supremacy. It has been practiced in many countries and over many centuries by a host of races, principally the result of suppressing enemy populations and harvesting the spoils of war. And still is. The concept of equality and “unalienable” rights took thousands of years to evolve to a point that they would become the fundamental principles of the United States of America.

Robert E. Lee chose to defend his native State of Virginia, a concept perhaps foreign to Americans of today, but a common sentiment a scant 60 years after 13 fiercely, and legally, independent colonies joined forces to oust the British. In fact, the establishment of the United States under the Constitution was a fortuitous, and mainly accidental, event and heavily opposed by many politicians of the day. There had only been 16 presidents by the Civil War. There have been 11 in my lifetime.

Today, the cries to tear down statues and ban the confederate flag in all forms come from imperfect people who chose to judge others on very narrow criteria and are all too happy to inter every personal good with their bones. Those that condemn engage in judgment, the likes of which would cause them to bristle and complain of every kind of prejudice if applied to their own lives and circumstances.

We haven’t disowned John F. Kennedy or Bill Clinton for their immoral and unfaithful behaviors. There are no calls to destroy their statues. Rather, we continue to remember the days of Camelot with fondness and acknowledge the legislative accomplishments of the Clinton administration, overlooking their human failings. Why, then, do we judge men who lived a century ago very narrowly for acts and beliefs that were natural and accepted in their own time?

The answer seems to be sheer, mean spirited retribution. Yet, those who seek to visit dishonor and condemnation on others should be cautioned that their actions can and will ultimately be judged in similar fashion, rightfully devoid of any mercy toward them. Perhaps, like the Merchant of Venice, these people will rue the day they chose to prosecute the dead without compassion.