At
four o'clock on a pleasant Saturday afternoon in January, I visited
the beautiful St. John's Episcopal Church in midtown Tulsa to hear
Rev. Robert W. Lee IV tell us why he is ashamed to be related to his
great uncle Robert E. Lee. Because he's ashamed, why didn't he just
stay at home in North Carolina?
His
lecture on historical wrongs was delivered in a church which is part
of a Church founded by a king who wanted to divorce his wife so that
he could marry his mistress, whom he later executed. In so doing,
this king seized Church properties and killed priests. I took many
notes during his talk so you can know his views, and I shall tell you
mine.
He
talked about when he was growing up, he was proud of being being a
descendant of Robert E. Lee. He had a Confederate battle flag in his
room. He also had a religious inclination and decided he wanted to
enter the ministry. Along the way, a black woman he knew told him
his having a Confederate battle flag was not conducive to the
Christian life. "I needed to change so that I could change
others." He later became the pastor of a United Church of
Christ church in North Carolina. It was after the 2017 events in
Charlottesville, Virginia where a riot broke out between white
nationalists (neo-Nazis) and ANTIFA (anti-Fascists, who are
Communists or anarchists) over a statue of General Robert E. Lee,
that Rev. Lee decided to speak out. He was given the opportunity to
do so at the MTV (Music Television) awards while wearing his clerical
garb. He used the event to denounce "white supremacy and a
society built on white supremacy" symbolized by his great uncle.
For his appearance on MTV, he was fired by his church, which was
remarkable because the United Church of Christ is very liberal in its
theological/political leanings. He continued his crusade by going on
the televison show The View and later National Public Radio. "The
Gospel calls me [because] of my name and my privilege." He
compared himself to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nat Turner, the
19th century slave turned pastor in Virginia who led a four-days
slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia in 1831, killing
about 60 white men, women, and children. Rev. Lee did not elaborate
about who Nat Turner was or what he did.
He
said he's ashamed of Robert E. Lee because he chose to fight for
slavery by fighting for the South. As for his legacy he said, "The
South lost the war but won in the history books." He went on to
say, for example, "Texas history books are inherently racist."
As
for the 1921 race war in Tulsa, Rev. Lee did not hesitate to lecture,
"It's the elephant in the room," saying Tulsans are shying
away from what happened. Since he doesn't live in Tulsa, he really
knows nothing about what is being done to address the events of 1921
in which white mobs, agitated by the local newspapers' reportage that
a black man was accused of assaulting a white woman in an elevator,
descended on the black neighborhood leveling several blocks of homes
and businesses, killing many. The actual numbers are not known. "We
have to seek atonement and amends," he said.
Atonement
and amends were the themes of Rev. Lee's talk. White people are bad,
and they need to get out their sackcloths and ashes. He also said we needed to have "dialogue" about these things.
There
were questions submitted in writing, some of which were read aloud by
the Rev. Samuel Colley-Toothaker of St. John's, who said he didn't
want to take questions from the floor due to time....Okay.
One
question was about Colin Kapernick, the former San Fransciso 49ers
football player who knelt during the singing of the national anthem.
"You're telling him to stand is assimilation," said Rev.
Lee. He went on to lament that black athletes labor for the benefit
of white sports teams' owners.
One
of the questions read aloud was would Rev. Lee name any of his sons
Robert? He said no. "We value what we name." He said he
doesn't value being related to Robert E. Lee.
He
admitted that if he could have dinner with one historical figure, it
would be his famous uncle, to whom he referred as "a man's man
in the 19th century." Perhaps he would have a different
prespective had they dined together?
A
question came up about the Black Lives Matter movement. Did he
believe this to be true or should it be "All Lives Matter?"
He said as a Christian, all lives matter, but black people are so
put upon by our racist society that they must take precedence.
All
things considered, his talk was elitist and condescending. He was
saying to those wealthy, white midtowners that they, and they alone,
can improve the lives of black people. I saw three black people in
the church that day. "To those of us with power and privilege,"
he said to the august gathering, "I look around and see
opulence." He left us with the idea that black people can't do
it on their own. They are weak victims of life in America who cannot
help themselves and to suggest otherwise is cruel and racist.
After
Rev. Lee's lecture in the church there was a reception in the hall
next to the sanctuary. Rev. Lee met an older man who mentioned that
General Lee had the total loyality of his soldiers. Rev. Lee
admitted, "He did command respect, I'll tell you that."
Then
I asked him a couple of questions. Because he mentioned being
inspired by the women's march which, is an abortion march, I asked
him his abortion position. He said, "I'm pro-choice; we
shouldn't govern women's bodies." I asked him how he could have
that position as a clergyman because science has indisputably
established the baby in the womb is a human life. He told me he
didn't think the abortion topic was germane to his talk and he didn't
want to talk to me about that.
My
second question concerned his position on statues and "white
supremacy." I mentioned students at Tufts University in
Massachusetts are trying to remove a statue of Thomas Jefferson for
the same reasons as taking down Confederate statues i.e. slavery and
"white supremacy." He said, "If Tufts sees it [Thomas
Jefferson] as a symbol of white supremacy, then take it down."
He then dismissed my argument saying he rejects the slippery slope
argument even though he just admitted he would have the Jefferson
statue removed. At this point, Rev. Lee was done with me and said he
didn't want to talk to me anymore. So much for his call for
dialogue.
Reverend
Robert W. Lee IV is in my book a bad actor. He's kind of like Joel
Osteen in that both are "reverends;" both are good talkers,
and both use their positions and abilities to promote their private
agendas. Osteen uses flowery inspriational "pep talks" to
get money and Rob Lee uses guilt to get notoriety and power for his
agenda. And both men do not promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
"I'm
a Christian," he said many times.
