Of course West Point should stop memorializing Robert E. Lee

Published December 21, 2022 12:00am ET



The U.S. Military Academy at West Point is right to begin removing installations memorializing Robert E. Lee and other Confederate leaders.

This is not to say that all public statues or memorials to Confederate leaders should be removed nationwide — although the default position should be to take them down. Context is important, as is a respect for the messiness of history against the alternative of ignoring it. The context at West Point, however, argues overwhelmingly and insistently that Confederates merit no name or place of honor there.
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