It's Colonial Heights, Please

Maybe the first time I heard the city called “The Heights” was during an interview with a local soccer coach from Chesterfield County.  As I was working, I didn’t really pay that much attention at the time, but lately I have been hearing The Heights, as a reference to Colonial Heights, more and more.

It is a bit disturbing, considering how history is being demolished throughout the US, and yes, even right here in Virginia. Supposedly, the city earned its moniker during the Revolutionary war.  During the Battle of Petersburg, the Marquis de Lafayette commanded a small artillery detachment that fired cannon shot onto the British forces in Petersburg in order to allow the Colonial Militia to retreat across the Appomattox and onto the high ground that is now the city of Colonial Heights.

Somehow, to me, cutting out the Colonial portion of the name seems wrong.  It’s like dragging down statues or trying to tuck away parts of history to “clean it up a bit.”  Jeesh, the next thing you know this kind of emasculation will continue and expand throughout the world.

Slaves were part of many of our most ancient civilizations, and are still today in many countries.  Can you imagine ancient Greece, or Rome, or Egypt without slaves?  In many cases, slaves were used as a sort of sport for the political elite at the time.

And yet, we find ourselves, we so called Americans, arguing every which way about what monuments should stay and which should go.  And even that has gotten out of hand.

Back to “Colonial” Heights.  The headquarters for the resistance back in those days was Violet Bank.  Ironically, it was also Lee’s headquarters during the siege of Petersburg during the Civil War.

So what can we do with that conundrum?

Is it proper to let it stand as a commemoration to those who fought and perished during the battle for Petersburg? Or should we just tear it down since Lee also used the strategically place property at the top of the heights in Chesterfield County, at the time, for his meetings and strategy sessions?

Beats me. I think they should all stay. Somehow, I think, we lose too much on a whim just because the truth rattles some people, or makes them feel somewhat less comfortable. In a way, it’s sort of like restructuring the Best Film, or the Best Songs, or the Best quarterback years after the face, and they tend to collect too many contemporary items due to popularity.  Then, given the time for history to do its thing, the popularity diminishes and we are left with the ones that truly deserve commemoration.

And in truth, the statues should make people somewhat uncomfortable.  These landmarks, these tourist attractions, these blots against the sensibility of a few, should stand.  They need to stay in place, like the ground zero monument at the former World Trade Center site.

Which brings me back to Colonial Heights.  In some ways, I guess people think, well the old Colonial Heights Baptist Church rebranded itself as The Heights Baptist Church so we probably ought to modernize the City, too.

But that ain’t for me.  To me, it’s Colonial Heights, in honor of the Colonials forces who managed to stop the British forces in Petersburg from breaking past the Appomattox River and sent them back to Jamestown just in time for Lord Cornwallis’ ultimate defeat.  It was a small victory, but one of the last battles that led to our initial freedom.

Statues, and battles, and flags “Oh my.”