It is a sign of our time that the most impressive and meaningful monument known as the Reconciliation Monument, located in Arlington Cemetery, the most hallowed and sacred ground in all of America, has been scheduled to be removed on December 18, a week before Christmas. Christmas marks the birth of the Jesus Christ, the savior that provides reconciliation between sinful man and God, and provides reconciliation between people, and between people and nations.
President William McKinley conceived of a Reconciliation Monument as a way of celebrating the success of a reunified nation that fielded an Army and Navy of enlisted men and officers from both the Southern and the Northern states who fought so effectively together that they delivered a surprisingly swift U.S. victory in the Spanish-American War of 1898. This theme of respect and reconciliation between the northern and southern states was also supported by the next three presidents—Teddy Roosevelt, Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. They all believed in the importance of celebrating the reunification and reconciliation of America even though it was many years after the bloody and divisive Civil War.
Since Woodrow Wilson unveiled the Reconciliation Monument in Arlington Cemetery in 1914 proclaiming that, “the monument represented the best of America—a spirit reconciliation, democracy, freedom, heroism and patriotism”—hardly anyone voiced any criticism of this grand monument, a unique masterpiece of intricate bronze sculpture some 33 feet tall. In fact, most observers viewed the monument with reverence and awe. It captured the “e pluribus unum” first conceived in 1776 at the time of the writing of the Declaration of Independence and incorporated as a motto in the Great Seal of the United States better than any other monument in Arlington or elsewhere.
But that all changed with the Woke Revolution of 2020. The U.S. Congress felt the need “to do something” after urban riots and massive property destruction swept across U.S. cities coast to coast after the unfortunate death of George Floyd. No matter that most of the Confederate statues had already been toppled and destroyed during the spring, summer and fall of 2020. Instead of enforcing the law with rioters who destroyed property, Washington dealt with the problem by having Congress form a “Naming Commission” to “remove all names, symbols, displays, monuments and paraphernalia that honored or commemorated the Confederate states of America…” as though this would appease Black Lives Matter and Antifa.
Although the Reconciliation Monument was not conceived to commemorate nor pay tribute to the Confederacy, but rather to honor and celebrate the spirit of reunification and reconciliation of the North and the South, the Democrat-dominated Naming Commission decided to ensnare the Reconciliation Monument in their crusade to remove all vestiges of anything related to the Confederate heritage.
What is confounding for many observers is what has been going down in America with the betrayal of the ideals and recognition of the United States as the world’s leading country made up of diverse ethnicities and races. It’s as though there has been a willful effort to elevate the dark and divisive side of human nature and diminish the virtuous side that includes respect and tolerance, which have played such an important part in diverse Americans living and working together effectively since the Civil War. And nowhere is this esprit de corps more important than in the military, whose sole purpose is to maintain the morale, training, and teamwork to deter war, and when that fails, to fight and win wars.
With the Naming Commission disbanded in the autumn of 2022, many people have wondered why Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has remained so determined to remove from Arlington America’s only monument dedicated to Reconciliation. Many have observed that the U.S. Armed Forces have been infiltrated by an ideology and an officer corps shaped by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Critical Race Theory (CRT), which have eliminated merit as criteria for promotion, replacing it with quotas and intersectional categories of oppressed and oppressors.
On Austin’s watch as Secretary of Defense, critical race theory and reverse racism have continued to be part of the training in every branch of the military, which has undermined the morale and solidarity of enlisted men and women. And adding insult to injury, demoralization throughout the military is the No. 1 cause of the scandalous recruiting shortfalls at present in every branch.
But just when it appears the woke in power are going to prevail, the American people are turning the tables. In the last four months there were two public hearings on procedural matters regarding the removal of the Reconciliation Monument. Each of those meetings had turnouts of over 100 people, and in each it was more than 100 to 1 in favor of leaving the Reconciliation Monument alone. In addition, there has been an enormous grassroots movement lobbying members of Congress, resulting in the House of Representatives taking action to prevent funding for the removal of Reconciliation Monument in the Fiscal Year 2024 Department of Defense Appropriations Act. And just the other day on December 11, 44 members of Congress signed a letter to Defense Secretary Austin, “demanding that the Department of Defense immediately suspend all removal activities of the Reconciliation Monument located in Arlington National Cemetery until Congress completes the Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations process.”
The battle is not yet over, but the tables and momentum have turned.
Scott Powell is senior fellow at Discovery Institute. His recent book, Rediscovering America, was #1 Amazon New Release in the history genre for eight weeks. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637581599). Reach him at scottp@discovery.org
Join the conversation as a VIP Member