Pavlich: This is an attack on America

Since the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, protests have erupted across the country in the name of racial equality. A month later, that noble cause has been hijacked by anti-American anarchists focused on destroying the country from the inside out. They’re doing this by stoking further division and tearing down important history.

It started on May 30 when the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., was vandalized. After a brutal Civil War victory to save the Union, President Lincoln declared freedom for slaves in the Confederacy through the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. He was assassinated for doing so.

Given the Lincoln Memorial’s important history of progress, it became the same place where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous and crucial “I Have a Dream” speech. The very spot where King stood while the country listened is etched into the stone, somewhat weathered all these years later. It is there so we always remember and reflect on his words about the importance of being judged by the content of our character, rather than the color of our skin.

And yet, the memorial to these legacies was targeted and these types of unwarranted attacks have since spread to other parts of the country.

In San Francisco, a statue of General Ulysses S. Grant was torn to the ground. Never mind his role in leading the Union to victory over the Confederacy, marking the beginning of the end of slavery in America.

“In 1865, as commanding general, Ulysses S. Grant led the Union Armies to victory over the Confederacy in the American Civil War. As an American hero, Grant was later elected the 18th President of the United States (1869–1877), working to implement Congressional Reconstruction and to remove the vestiges of slavery,” Grant’s White House biography states.

In Philadelphia, the statue of abolitionist Matthias Baldwin was defaced. A statue of Confederate traitor Albert Pike was torn down and burned in D.C. Further north in Boston, the 54th Regiment Memorial, which honors African Americans who fought for freedom during the Civil War, was vandalized.

And finally, a statue of President Theodore Roosevelt, one of America’s greatest presidents, is being removed after standing for nearly a century. This action is being taken by the government of New York City despite Roosevelt’s track record on race.

In 1901, Roosevelt become the first president to host Booker T. Washington as a guest of honor for a meal at the White House. Washington became the first Black man to dine in the building. After the dinner, Roosevelt heavily relied on Washington as an adviser.

“Since he assumed the office of President he entertained Prof. Booker T. Washington in the Executive Mansion on last Wednesday evening. The first President of the United States to entertain a colored man,” the White House Historical Association documents.

If the current civil unrest were still about racial equality, Lincoln, King, Grant, Baldwin, the 54th Regiment and Pike wouldn’t be bearing the brunt of ongoing attacks.

Civil debate about history is warranted and welcomed. In fact, it’s essential for citizens of the United States to stay apprised of our history in order to learn, grow and avoid repeating it. This should be done without riots or anarchy. It still can be, so long as those attempting to destroy America from the inside out are stopped and prosecuted for their crimes.

“Without any question chaos and lawlessness has to be dealt with significant force, period,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said during a recent interview with Fox News. “They’re simply agitators and trying to find a way to create anarchy, chaos and lawlessness. That is dangerous for every single person in this nation, especially the most vulnerable communities we have.”

“I think we can have a robust debate about the renaming of some military bases, there are some things we can have a serious debate about but this desire to purge all of history because it was ugly or negative really does not serve the American people well,” he continued. “In America, all things are possible. … And if we want to do something, why don’t you put up a statue to Booker T. Washington. Why don’t you have a conversation about Washington Carver. These would be positive steps. Tearing down history for the sake of anarchy is not how we make progress in this country. It never has been and it never will be because we are the United States of America.”

For the sake of the country, the anti-American mob must be held accountable.

Pavlich is the editor for Townhall.com and a Fox News contributor.