Ty Seidule reflects on unlearning reverence for Robert E. Lee, Confederacy

Army veteran, professor and historian Ty Seidule shared his story of once believing in the “Lost Cause” mythology for decades and how he has completely altered his ideologies since. Photos courtesy of Seidule

It’s typical for children to idolize a particular role model while growing up — say, a parent, caregiver, perhaps even favorite athlete. For 36-year army veteran Ty Seidule, that figure was Robert E. Lee. 

“On a scale of one to 10, I put Robert E. Lee at an 11 and Jesus at about a five,” Seidule told The Panther.

As a child growing up in Alexandria, Virginia, Seidule said the textbooks, school names and street names memorialized the Confederacy and promoted the “Lost Cause” mythology. Historians reference the “Lost Cause” as a pseudo-historical concept that the Confederacy fought for a just cause during the Civil War: slavery was moral, the enslaved were happy, the South fought to protect their “state’s rights” and the Confederacy was narrowly defeated.

Army veteran and historian Ty Seidule wrote a book that challenges the myths of the Confederacy."

Seidule was invited to speak at Chapman April 12 through the Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences series “Engaging the World: Leading the Conversation on the Significance of Race.” The discussion was moderated by the Wilkinson College Dean Jennifer Keene and Justin Riley, the associate director of Student Community Support and Development. Seidule spoke about his book, “Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner’s Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause,” which shares how and why his own views changed.

“(Post-Civil War) there were segregation laws, Jim Crow laws, “White Terror” through lynching, Black disenfranchisement and Confederate monuments (built) to represent white supremacy,” Seidule said at the event. “All of these things are the pillars of a deeply racist, white supremacist society that ensures white political power at the expense of Black people. So, the Lost Cause matters, because it's the ideology of a white supremacist society.”

Seidule retired from the U.S. Army in 2020 as a brigadier general and became a professor Emeritus of history at United States Military Academy West Point shortly thereafter. He taught at the university for two decades before he was appointed as one of four representatives of the U.S. Department of Defense Confederate Base Naming Commission in February 2021 by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. 

Seidule told The Panther that he evolved from revering Lee to despising him as he grew in life from a white gentleman from the South, to an army officer, to an academic and historian. However, once Seidule delved into his own research about the Civil War and the history of the Confederacy, he found it challenging to publicly admit that he once revered Lee and believed the Civil War was not fought over slavery. 

“I had all this information and I couldn’t stop talking about it, but I never told my background,” Seidule said. “But, once I told my background — and that was the scary part, because I had to reveal my own history — which had racism and white supremacy at the foundation of it, I had such a good reaction from most people.”

In 2015, a video published by PragerU featuring Seidule went viral with over 34 million views. In it, he stated that “slavery was, by a wide margin, the single most important cause of the Civil War.” Following the post, Seidule was investigated on the grounds of political speech by the U.S Army for saying the Civil War was about slavery, but was heartened by the positive feedback he received from Black cadets at West Point for sharing his story.

Keene told The Panther that although people like Seidule are influenced by environmental factors, they have the ability to shape their ideologies by examining and questioning the ideas that were passed down to them. 

“Change is not fast; it's incremental, and it's continuous,” Keene said.

In 2017, Seidule gave a speech at his alma mater, Washington and Lee University. Standing in front of a white marble altar of Robert E. Lee and a picture of Lee standing in Confederate gray, Seidule criticized Lee for committing treason against the United States to preserve slavery. 

“I was nervous; it was just after the Charlottesville massacre,” Seidule said at the event. “I finished my talk by saying, ‘You have to lead to ensure that we are no longer a white supremacist organization; we no longer have this Lost Cause (ideology); we can be better than this.’ When I finished my talk, they gave me a standing ovation … and this warm glow of acceptance came over.” 

In light of recent calls to further diversity, racial justice and equity across all institutions — including at Chapman — Keene spoke to how faculty and those in administrative positions can help further causes often pushed by students.

“Students who have done so much work and done really great things need to be sure that these movements have some faculty or staff alliances … (Students) will graduate, but I am not leaving; I am still at Chapman,” Keene told The Panther. “When you think about who's going to be here over the next 10 years to really keep things going, you need those alliances.”

Riley, a Chapman alumnus, echoed similar sentiments regarding what it’s like to attempt to push for more equity within major institutions.

“Some things that I wanted to see change as a student in 2007 still aren’t actualized 13 years later,” Riley told The Panther. “That's a frustrating reality to be a part of. But do I succumb to that frustration? Or, do I keep chipping away at it? Students shoulder a lot of those responsibilities because they want to see change now and see change immediately.”

Seidule believes it’s crucial to acknowledge the history of racial injustice in America — not rewrite it — and celebrate those who represent the ideals of today’s society. 

“By changing our language, by changing our symbols, by changing our commemoration, we recognize our values today and who we are as Americans today … The history of racism in this country is something that we must come to grips with,” Seidule told The Panther. “And the only way to do that is to look honestly at our past, and that will provide a way forward.”