John R. MacArthur: Why This Upper West Side Liberal Is Trouibled by a Park Named After Wm. Tecumseh Sherman
Every time I take my kids to the Tecumseh Playground, at 77th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, in Manhattan, I'm troubled by a political paradox.
On the one hand, this Western-themed lot for tots means to honor Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, of Confederacy-destroying and Indian-killing fame, as does the adjacent public school, which bears his full name. A placard at the playground entrance also touts Sherman's tour as a New Yorker, since the scourge of Atlanta and the Carolinas spent his theatergoing retirement in Gotham, living out his days on West 71st Street not far from Broadway.
On the other hand, my local playground serves one of the most anti-war constituencies in America, the Upper West Side. Until the word liberal was banned from public discourse, most Upper West Siders militantly identified themselves as liberal—indeed, their steadfast support for peacenik politicians, from Adlai Stevenson to George McGovern to Howard Dean, is legendary. If New York State is blue, then my neighborhood is cobalt blue.
So what are we doing with one of our local grammar schools named after the man who practically invented “scorched-earth” warfare?
Well, I suppose you can make the argument that Sherman did more to end American slavery than anyone besides Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant. In tandem with his mentor Grant, Sherman did the horrible things that had to be done to end the Civil War.
While neither man was a tactical genius, they were realists, and ultimately recognized that vast amounts of Northern and Southern blood would have to be sacrificed—and Confederate property wrecked—to beat the rebels.
But that doesn't mean Sherman had any great enthusiasm for Emancipation. In fact, he was thoroughly ambivalent about liberating the slaves or incorporating them in the social mainstream, much less the Army.
Considering his heritage and middle name, this isn't so surprising. Sherman's original given name was taken from the Shawnee Indian chief Tecumseh, against whom Sherman's grandfather had fought. Renamed William by his adoptive father, Sherman learned to be a soldier while ethnically cleansing Florida of Seminoles. In short, “Uncle Billie” was no civil-rights activist....
Read entire article at Harper's
On the one hand, this Western-themed lot for tots means to honor Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, of Confederacy-destroying and Indian-killing fame, as does the adjacent public school, which bears his full name. A placard at the playground entrance also touts Sherman's tour as a New Yorker, since the scourge of Atlanta and the Carolinas spent his theatergoing retirement in Gotham, living out his days on West 71st Street not far from Broadway.
On the other hand, my local playground serves one of the most anti-war constituencies in America, the Upper West Side. Until the word liberal was banned from public discourse, most Upper West Siders militantly identified themselves as liberal—indeed, their steadfast support for peacenik politicians, from Adlai Stevenson to George McGovern to Howard Dean, is legendary. If New York State is blue, then my neighborhood is cobalt blue.
So what are we doing with one of our local grammar schools named after the man who practically invented “scorched-earth” warfare?
Well, I suppose you can make the argument that Sherman did more to end American slavery than anyone besides Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant. In tandem with his mentor Grant, Sherman did the horrible things that had to be done to end the Civil War.
While neither man was a tactical genius, they were realists, and ultimately recognized that vast amounts of Northern and Southern blood would have to be sacrificed—and Confederate property wrecked—to beat the rebels.
But that doesn't mean Sherman had any great enthusiasm for Emancipation. In fact, he was thoroughly ambivalent about liberating the slaves or incorporating them in the social mainstream, much less the Army.
Considering his heritage and middle name, this isn't so surprising. Sherman's original given name was taken from the Shawnee Indian chief Tecumseh, against whom Sherman's grandfather had fought. Renamed William by his adoptive father, Sherman learned to be a soldier while ethnically cleansing Florida of Seminoles. In short, “Uncle Billie” was no civil-rights activist....