On Wednesday, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanded that Confederate statues on the U.S. Capitol be removed, she failed to mention that her father had overseen the dedication of the Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee Monument while he was Baltimore’s mayor in 1948.
James Woods: ‘#Awkard’
This was not a fact that was lost on actor and outspoken conservative James Woods, who shared a story from Breitbart about Pelosi’s omission that simply included the hashtag “#Awkward.”
Pelosi Silent on Own Father: Oversaw Dedication of Confederate Statue // #Awkward https://t.co/dnCyb2iY7x
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) June 12, 2020
RELATED: James Woods Slams Nancy Pelosi As ‘Morbidly Corrupt’
Pelosi condemned the statues as “monuments to men who advocated cruelty and barbarism to achieve such a plainly racist end” after entering her formal complaint to have them removed.
This move by the House Speaker comes as angry protesters nationwide have vandalized statues and monuments that pay tribute to the Civil War era.
Pelosi: ‘Their statues pay homage to hate, not heritage. They must be removed.’
Pelosi said in her letter to Committee Chair Roy Blunt and Vice Chair Zoe Lofgren, “As I have said before, the halls of Congress are the very heart of our democracy. The statues in the Capitol should embody our highest ideals as Americans, expressing who we are and who we aspire to be as a nation.”
“Monuments to men who advocated cruelty and barbarism to achieve such a plainly racist end are a grotesque affront to these ideals,” Pelosi wrote. “Their statues pay homage to hate, not heritage. They must be removed.”
Read my letter here: https://t.co/lx0nuYxrfk
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) June 10, 2020
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Pelosi’s Father Presided Over Confederate Statue Dedication as Mayor of Baltimore
Pelosi’s father, Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr., was the mayor of Baltimore in 1948 when the Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee Monument was erected in Wyman Park.
Pelosi’s dad said Jackson’s and Lee’s examples were inspirational and encouraged Americans to “emulate Jackson’s example and stand like a stone wall against aggression in any form that would seek to destroy the liberty of the world.”
“World Wars I and II found the North and South fighting for a common cause, and the generalship and military science displayed by these two great men in the War between the States lived on and were applied in the military plans of our nation in Europe and the Pacific areas,” D’Alesandro said during the monument’s dedication ceremony.
What's your alibi, Madam Speaker when Thomas Ludwig John D'Alesandro Jr. dedicated Stonewall Jackson & Robert E. Lee #ConfederateMonuments? Daddy's little girl Nancy Pelosi tagged along & at kitchen table heard the statues "pay home to hate, not heritage."https://t.co/cahqwRQVFm
— hopemagah (@hopemaga) June 11, 2020
Mayor D’Alesandro continued, “Today with our nation beset by subversive groups and propaganda which seeks to destroy our national unity, we can look for inspiration to the lives of Lee and Jackson to remind us to be resolute and determined in preserving our sacred institutions … remain steadfast in our determination to preserve freedom, not only for ourselves, but for other liberty-loving nations who are striving to preserve their national unity as free nations.”
“In these days of uncertainty and turmoil, Americans must emulate Jackson’s example and stand like a stone wall against aggression in any form that would seek to destroy the liberty of the world,” he added.
The statue was removed via city council dictum in 2017.
The Lee/Jackson statue in Baltimore's Wyman Park being removed at 3:45a Listen for my live reports @wbalradio w/ @BryanNehman from N Balt pic.twitter.com/ZpDeDLJuVb
— Scott Wykoff (@ScottWykoffWBAL) August 16, 2017
RELATED: James Woods Shares Powerful Message To Democrats From Black Conservative Rob Smith
Does Pelosi Believe Her Father was a Racist – Or is History More Complicated Than That?
Does Pelosi believe her father was a racist for his complimentary words about Jackson and Lee? Or for supporting the erection of such statues?
Or maybe American history is more complicated than what she espouses – and her father and his record is a prime example of that.
Regardless of where one stands on this issue, it is hard for Nancy Pelosi to condemn these monuments and their creators without finding the same problems with their own personal histories, often including family.
James Woods subtle point stands. “Awkward” indeed.