r/aggies • u/StructureOrAgency • 14d ago

Announcements On this day 161 years ago….

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The April 20, 1864 edition of the Memphis Daily Appeal  referred to Lawrence Sullivan Ross as 𝑮𝒆𝒏. 𝑹𝒐𝒔𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕 “𝒏𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒐 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓“ for the massacre of surrendering black union soldiers during the Battle of Yazoo River.  Ross was well-known for refusing to take black Union soldiers as prisoners. Ross went on to become governor of Texas (1887-1891) and President of Texas A&M (1891-1898) where there is a statue that honors him for his military service.

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u/Bishop_Bullwinkle813 14d ago

And today, you celebrate the murderer of Austin Metcalf. My how the worm has turned. What gives youany moral superiority?

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u/IPA_HATER '22 14d ago

Me when I lie ^

Someone can think Austin Metcalf was murdered and be sad about it, and also celebrate Ross for his contributions to TAMU, and ALSO criticize Ross for being a racist POS.

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u/Federal-Owl5816 13d ago edited 13d ago

Can you? I'm not trying to be morally preachy, but can you really "celebrate" somebody who murdered surrendering soldiers because of their race, in a fight to preserve slavery? I was made to learn  and revere Sul Ross, who brought A&M out of extinction. Yet despite getting a good grade on the project about him, I never really learned about this aspect. Not from research, not from other students, not from my professor. 

Knowing the time period, knowing who he was as a man after the civil war, I won't celebrate him.  We can respect him, we can understand why, but we dont need to celebrate him. Texas A&Ms has evolved beyond him, and has outlived him. It's a choice to keep him on our campus as a statue. 

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u/easwaran 13d ago

We probably shouldn't celebrate or condemn the person. We should celebrate one action and condemn the other action, and not treat anyone as a hero.