Important things are happening

I'm hoping that some TV network will broadcast the memorial service for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney this morning, and especially President Obama's eulogy. Some important things are happening in our country right now - the tragic killings in Charleston, S.C. and the response to them, the Supreme Court ruling yesterday on the ACA, and today's expected one on same-sex marriages, the negotiations with Iran which are coming to a climax and perhaps a resolution. Truly a remarkable time.

I was very interested in David Brooks' NY Times column on Robert E. Lee today - part of an ongoing discussion in the wake of the Charlestown, S.C. massacre. Much has been said about the Confederate flag, but there are many other symbols of the Confederacy, and Robert E. Lee is one. Countless schools have been named for him, for example. Should those schools be renamed? My father, who was born in the south, was a great admirer of Lee. And there was much about him to admire. He was a fine man in many ways, and a great general. But he supported slavery and fought to preserve it. He was a slave-owner himself, and reputedly a harsh one - contrary to his reputation as a kind and gentle man with his own family. Brooks suggests a compromise - don't totally eradicate his name from monuments, but rename the schools, because schools shape young people's attitudes. Perhaps Robert E. Lee schools could become Clemente Pinckney schools. That would be progress, in my view. The Rev. Pinckney was also a kind and gentle man, a "fine Christian gentleman," a phrase often used to describe Lee. He would be a worthy successor.