ESPN, the network that was once devoted to sports but is now devoted to political-correctness, has announced that football broadcaster Robert Lee (a man of Asian descent) will not be allowed to broadcast a University of Virginia football game because he shares a name with Confederate general Robert E. Lee. In other words, the modern-day Lee is being removed because his name sounds too “white.” Or more specifically, his name sounds to “Southern” and white. Or even more specifically, because his name sounds too “Confederate” and Southern and white. It is hard to believe, we’ve come to this.
The broadcaster Robert Lee has not said anything that the politically correct mobs of America would object to. As far as I know, he has not even THOUGHT anything that the politically correct “thought police” would object to. What is his crime? Nothing. Why is he being removed? Because of his name. That and nothing else. His parents apparently had the audacity to name him “Robert.” Let all “Bob Lees” in America be warned. You might be next. The same goes for “Tom Jacksons.” Oh, you didn’t know? Confederate General Stonewall Jackson’s real name was Thomas. Incidentally, “Tom Jackson” is also the name of the recently retired ESPN broadcaster who worked with Chris Berman for so many years. Jackson was a standout linebacker for the Denver Broncos, who went on to have a stellar career as a broadcaster. But now, I suspect ESPN will want to alter and edit any past broadcasts in which Jackson appeared. They may feel the need to erase history, so the PC mobs don’t get offended. It couldn’t be true that they once had an announcer who had the name of a Confederate general! Oh! By the way…… Did I mention that Tom Jackson is black?
The mob-mentality of ripping and erasing all things Confederate (including those things that have NOTHING to do with the Confederacy, like sports broadcasters), has gotten so ridiculous that you wonder if anyone in America is still going along with it. Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Many leftists in America want every shred of the Confederacy deleted from our National memory, to allow “Establishment-approved” history alone to survive.
Ironically, the recent obsession with re-writing history comes straight out of the fictitious George Orwell book, 1984. Orwell, writing in 1948, envisioned a future day in which the government, or as he referred to it, “The Party” would have such control over the citizenry that every move, sound, and word would be monitored. The main character in the book, Winston, worked for “The Party’s” Department of Truth. Winston’s job was to pull old newspaper articles and alter them anytime “The Party” was proven to be wrong. That way, anyone who dared question “The Party” or tried to check facts against history, would be thwarted. Orwell’s creepy description sounds a lot like today. He wrote: “Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” And if "The Party" wanted a person to "disappear" completely, Orwell referred to it as being "vaporized." Vast sections of American history are being "vaporized" today.
And there, my friends, you have it: “The Party is always right.” And who is “The Party” you ask? The Party is the establishment. Be they Democrat or Republican. Be they black or white. Be they male, female, or the modern-day invention of transgender. THE PARTY is ALWAYS RIGHT. And don’t you peasants forget it!
So, what is wrong with re-writing history, you ask? First, it is dishonest to do so. Present and future students have just as much right to hear the truth of how things in the past happened; and then make their own judgments about where they stand on historical issues. One of the major problems in all the anti-Confederate craze of today is a complete permeation of historical ignorance on the part of many people. Including professional historians. No honest student of history would ever say that slavery had nothing to do with the Civil War. But no honest student of history would ever point to slavery as the only, or even the primary cause either. If you could go back in time to 1860, you would find that the truth was much more nuanced than people make it today. Tensions broiled between the Northern and Southern states, even from colonial times. And matters of economics, state’s rights, and taxes all fueled the fire for the eventual war (for more on this read Tom Dilorenzo’s book ‘The Real Lincoln.’) Boiling it all down to a matter of slavery alone is historically dishonest. But even if that were the sole cause for the war, shouldn’t today’s history students have a right to know that?
By eliminating every vestige of Confederate history, the leftists are ultimately shooting themselves in the foot. If the past is so bad, then shouldn’t we preserve its memory so we can learn from it? What exactly are the Orwellian masters on the political left afraid of? Are they afraid that someone might have an independent thought that doesn’t line up with “The Party’s” ideology? And if this is the case, then wouldn’t it be nice to discuss these differences in a society marked by free speech? We do still have “free speech” in America, don’t we? Not if the leftist mobs have their way. Speech that diverges from what is considered “acceptable verbiage” is not only disallowed, but has been branded as “hate speech” in many circles. This too is straight out of Orwell’s book, where “The Party’s” Newspeak department instructs the people on what words they can and cannot say. The “Newspeak” department also coined new phrases that the people were required to use. The phrase “hate speech” would fit in nicely to Orwell’s fictitious world.
Many Americans have no idea of the fire they are playing with, when they succumb to the Politically-correct mobs. History is factual, regardless of whether you agree with it or not. And as such, history should be preserved, not erased. In the past, they have re-written the books to project a more PC-friendly narrative. Last week they were tearing down statues. Today they are forcing an Asian-American football announcer to step aside because of his name. Tomorrow, they might just throw you down the “memory-hole” of forgetfulness and deem you as an unnecessary distraction to “The Party’s” agenda.
One final quote from Orwell: “He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” If you can re-write history, then you can control the future. And if you are in charge of the present, then you can re-write history. Who “controls” America today? Mobs do. While they claim to be fighting “Nazism” they themselves are displaying Nazi behavior. They are silencing dissenters. They are erasing history. And they are trying to alter the future. And in so doing, they are destroying America today.
Back in 1948, when Orwell was writing 1984, most people equated his book with the Soviet Union, or Nazi Germany. How surprised Americans from that era would be, if they found out, that Orwell’s book would come true in 21st century America. Robert Lee was removed today. Look out Tom Jacksons of the world. You might be next.