Lee did fight bravely in army blue in the Mexican-American War. He was a superb college president. He did take the loyalty oath in 1865. For me, however, Lee is no hero. As an army officer, I can’t honor a colonel who abrogated his solemn oath, sworn to God. As an American, I can’t honor someone who killed so many U.S. Army soldiers. As a human being, I can’t honor a man who fought so hard for so long to keep millions of people in perpetual bondage. As W. E. B. Du Bois said in 1928, “Robert E. Lee led a bloody war to perpetuate slavery.”116
