Symbols of Change
.
By Matthew Kopp
June 03, 2019
On August 12, 2017, a self-identified neo-Nazi killed one person and injured 35 others during dueling public rallies about the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Virginia. Violence in the name of a symbol or identity is not a new phenomenon, but the atavism of the current debate highlights the need for in-depth and thoughtful discussion. As the subject of the ongoing debate in the United States is about statues of Confederate military leaders, it appears appropriate for members of the profession of arms to think deeply about the symbols society uses to remember military endeavors. An example of thoughtful introspection on this topic comes from retired General Stanley McChrystal’s “Leaders: Myth and Reality.†McChrystal works through his intellectual journey, as an American military leader, and the cognitive dissonance between the image of Robert E. Lee as a gentlemanly tactical expert and the strategic environment that brought him to face the Union Army on the field of battle.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2019/06/03/symbols_of_change_114474.html
