Lincoln returns to Richmond

New York Times: In Richmond, Lincoln Statue is Greeted by Protests. I love and hate this about Virginia, my home state: the places where history happened have a tendency to become trapped in pivotal moments and hold onto them for identity long after all the original participants have crumbled to dust. A prime example: Bragdon Bowling, Virginia “division commander” of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans:

“They have no concept of history and how it might be the wrong place to put the statue,” said Mr. Bowling, whose great-grandfather John Stephen Cannon fought for the Confederacy. “As a Southerner, I’m offended. You wouldn’t put a statue of Winston Churchill in downtown Berlin, would you? What’s next, a statue of Sherman in Atlanta?”

I think Mr. Bowling is perhaps not the right person to criticize someone else’s grasp of history.