I don’t think making the anniversary of Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox a national holiday would advance the cause of national unity. It would be nice if such a thing were uncontroversial and uniformly embraced, but that’s not the America we live in. In fact, proposing such a thing shows the same lack of introspection that progressives so correctly accuse conservatives of lacking.
It supposes a more perfect union than, in fact, exists or than has ever existed.
Real introspection requires us to look at the Conservative Movement not just for what it is, but for its integral and inseparable role in our nation’s character. We don’t have to agree that America is fundamentally a center-right country to acknowledge that conservatism is a bedrock aspect of our political culture.
The Confederacy is with us still, and will remain so as long as conservatism is the core philosophy of one of our two major parties. Republicans may not openly mourn slavery, but they won’t join us in celebrating the demise of secessionists from an overbearing federal government.
To try to force them to celebrate Lee’s surrender at Appomattox is taking things too far. It’s enough that they consent to live in union with us even as we craft a more perfect country that is not to their liking.
