Why the Long Face: Woke University Cancels Robert E. Lee's Horse

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By Alex Parker

We're living in a time of immense evolution. Women possess penises; men's thighs meet at their vaginas. And as for the number of legs on American outcasts, the total can run as high as four. Example: the cancellation of a beloved and behooved soldier to whom the Great Transformation has now said, "Nay."

In case you're unfamiliar with equine icon Traveller, he was to General Robert E. Lee what Silver was to The Lone Ranger. The famed horse served Lee during the Civil War and beyond. And previously, a college honored the animal with a praise-packed pair of plaques.

However, 2020's riots sent a revisionist wave across the country. Historical titans were toppled as the Broom of Wokeness cleaned house:

George Washington University Decolonizes Itself by Displacing Its Mascot

In an Effort to Quell Violence, Philadelphia's Christopher Columbus Goes the Way of the Dodo Bird

The Racism of Trees? Portland School Presses Pause on a Proposed Mascot Due to Its Terrible Ties

School Votes to Remove a Racist Rock -- Because It Was Called Something Terrible 95 Years Ago

Cambridge University Will Create Signs to Excuse the 'Whiteness' of Its Greek and Roman Statues

Lincoln's Name Yanked From California School: He Didn't Prove 'Black Lives Ever Mattered' to Him

At Washington and Lee University, they've aimed to get with the times. From WLU.edu in 2021:

Last summer, in the midst of the nationwide protests and search for racial justice, the Board of Trustees received requests from students, faculty and alumni calling for changes in the university...

Over the past year, we have engaged in deliberations over these requests and other important issues relating to diversity and inclusion on campus. We have been guided by our responsibility to ensure the university's future success in a complex and changing world. 

The school pegged its principles:

  • Free and critical inquiry, civil discourse, developing students with honor and integrity, and preparing graduates for responsible leadership, engaged citizenship, and service to others
  • [Recognizing] that our graduates must be prepared to contribute to an increasingly diverse society, and that respect for others, no matter their differences, is a moral imperative
  • [P]rogress toward becoming a more inclusive community, but also [awareness] that much work remains 
  • [P]ride in our school, in the faculty and staff who educate our students, and in the alumni who support us and represent us in the world

And in case anyone was unsure:

We repudiate racism, racial injustice, and the denial of fundamental dignity to any individual in our society.

Nothing was mentioned of animal rights. Perhaps the omission was intentional; WLU was soon to degrade a grey American Saddlebred.

In 1930, a plaque was affixed to an outside wall of Lee's on-campus house stable. Its caption conveyed high regard:

The Last Home of Traveller

Through war and peace, the faithful, devoted and beloved horse of General Robert E. Lee 

Placed by the Virginia Division United Daughters of Confederacy 

That placement is no more; the tribute has been trounced. Workers have uninstalled it and inserted bricks to fill the void.

Traveller erstwhile additionally enjoyed the honor of having a gravestone commemorate his service. The marker made clear who he carried:

Traveller

Horse of Gen. Robert E. Lee

Placed By Virginia Div. [United Daughters of Confederacy]

May 8th, 1971

That stone is, of late, also history; its replacement befits a family goldfish. Rest in Peace, Something:

Traveller 

1857-1871

Purportedly, a new stable marker is in the works; a similarly generic reference will presumably result.

Two other campus monuments have been removed, both involving Lee himself. The WLU Spectator reports:

[The plaques] denoted two rooms in Payne Hall: one where President Robert E. Lee took his oath of office in 1865, and the other where his office was from 1865-68, before moving to the newly-constructed chapel.

All four axed items will be relegated to an indoor museum. According to Executive Director of Communications Drewry Sackett, the collection comprises a "new permanent exhibit."

Of course, "permanent" was likely proclaimed as well in 1930 and 1971.

About the college bucking Traveller's bonafides, one Spectator reader commented thusly:

"It takes a special type of deranged institution to dishonor the gravesite of a helpless animal! In my view, the University no longer deserves to have its name affiliated with George Washington and Robert E. Lee. Perhaps W&L should be renamed 'Woke and Lame' University."

Will a college name-change occur? Horse sense might say yes. Social justice warriors are nothing if not relentless -- though a previous Board of Trustees vote failed to rebrand the school. Maybe give it time.

Meanwhile, you've got to hand it to wokesters -- they're not afraid of beating a dead horse.

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