Heidi Alexander: “the late historian, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., said this: ``Self-righteousness in retrospect is easy--also cheap.'' The…”

“the late historian, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., said this: ``Self-righteousness in retrospect is easy--also cheap.'' The late Samuel Huntington, who was a Harvard professor of U.S. history and politics, wrote, in effect, that most of our politics is about setting great goals for ourselves--we, the American people--and then the struggle we have with the disappointment we feel when we don't reach those high goals, like ``all men are created equal.'' Ben Hooks, who was from Memphis and a well-known citizen of our State and a good friend and once president of the NAACP, used to tell his students at the University of Memphis: Remember that our country, America, is a work in progress. We've come a long way, but we have a long way to go. It is in light of those three comments that I would like to discuss the effort that some people made last night to tear down President Andrew Jackson's statue in Lafayette Square across from the White House. I believe it is always appropriate to review the monuments and the places that we name to see if there is a more appropriate name in the context of today's times. For example, in this Capitol, every State has two statues. From Tennessee, it is Andrew Jackson and John Sevier.…”