Thank you, Commander Barbour, for inviting Virginia Division United Daughters of the Confederacy to be here today. We have been working with you for over 100 years and we treasure our relationship. May I hear a cheer from all my members here today.

Mrs. Allen

Today is a very different occasion for the Daughters. When we gather it is usually for celebration. To dedicate a historical monument or marker. To place a grave marker. To give a scholastic or literary award or a scholarship. To honor the birthdays of our heroes. We are best known for working on a low-key level to accomplish these goals. We build and maintain monuments, we care for Confederate graves, we give scholarships, we give to veterans hospitals, we restore flags, we preserve battlefields. And we have been doing these things since our founding on a national level in 1894. For those of you who do not know, we are entirely composed of descendants of Confederate soldiers and patriots. And we still have members whose FATHERS fought in the War Between the States.

Yet today is not a happy occasion for the Daughters. We here in Virginia have been hearing from members all over the country that they are angry. And believe me, folks, you do not want to make a Southern woman angry! They are appalled at the recent events in Richmond, not only the former capital of the Confederacy but also the site of our national headquarters where we meet annually. And so today the President of Virginia Division, Nancy Gum, who could not be here, sent me to let you know our thoughts.

Do we REALLY need Robert E. Lee? Do we need a larger-than-life banner of him on display at an outdoor museum here in Richmond? Let me hear what you all think!!

I don't know why Lee's picture was chosen for Canal Walk. It's my guess that the planners wanted some image from the War years because of the significance of the War to Richmond's history. And so Lee was chosen as the best of the options. Not Jefferson Davis. Not Stonewall Jackson. Not JEB Stuart. Not an unnamed Confederate soldier. But Robert E. Lee -- as he would PROBABLY be the most recognized and also the least CONTROVERSIAL of all the choices.

Why then was Lee's picture removed?

He is universally considered one of the greatest Americans to have ever lived. Not only for his service to his country during the Mexican War, not only for his years as an educator at West Point and at Washington College, not only for his strategic and tactical genius that is still studied by the military today, not only for his policy of reconciliation after the War, but also for his character, his morals, his leadership, his honesty, his total lack of conceit. The sheer goodness of this man has endured and he is universally admired.

No, his picture was removed from Canal Walk because of his connection to the CONFEDERACY! The very mention of that word conjures up images in some people's minds that are OFFENSIVE! In our society today when some people complain that they are offended by something, their demands are met, regardless of justice, regardless of fairness, regardless of truth. It doesn't matter that a large section of the population is EQUALLY offended by this. The Confederacy -- ITS history, ITS leaders, ITS people, ITS symbols -- must be suppressed, must be shunned, must be obliterated, except possibly in the "correct" context in an indoors museum, and even then with many disclaimers about the supposed reasons of the War and judgments about the Confederate Cause.

Confederate-Americans are made to feel that OUR heritage, OUR history are not worthy of respect and that OUR symbols must be removed, must be purged from the public view. And this has reached such a stage that even Robert E. Lee is not acceptable. Even HE is not deemed a worthy example for Americans as he is automatically associated with what we are SUPPOSED to believe was an unjust cause, made up of traitors to the United States.

Well, I am here to put everyone on notice! Those who would try to take our heritage from us, who want us to be ASHAMED of it, who want us to FORGET it, better understand that WE ARE NOT EVER GOING TO FORGET! We are here to stay. And so they better just get used to it, and get over it. We are going to CONTINUE to preserve our history. We are going to CONTINUE to honor our ancestors.

And, as God is my witness, the UNITED DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY AND THE SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS WILL SEE THAT THE CONFEDERACY LIVES FOREVER. It lives not only in the hearts of our members, but in the hearts of millions of Americans. And the more you try to suppress us, the more determined we become.

This is not ethnic cleansing. This is not Kosovo. It is not even Ireland. But it IS a very unhealthy and poisonous state of political correctness and IT SIMPLY MUST END.

We call on everyone to follow General Lee's example of reconciliation and healing. Let us ALL live together in peace and harmony. Let us allow each OTHER the courtesy of seeing that ALL the different cultural and ethnic groups in America are respected and their symbols protected.

So, DO WE NEED REALLY ROBERT E. LEE? You BET we do! Not only do Confederate-Americans need him, but ALL Americans need him. He is an important and worthy part of our national consciousness. Not only do we need him on Canal Walk, we need him EVERYWHERE.

Let us ALL cherish his memory.