President Barack Obama Lays Wreath at Tomb of Unknown Soldier, Sends 2nd Wreath to Memorial Honoring African-Americans who Fought in the Civil War

Kudos to President Barack Obama for honoring black soldiers who fought in the Civil War. He observed Memorial Day by placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, just as his predecessors have, but this time there was a twist. He sent a second wreath to a memorial honoring African Americans who fought in the Civil War. The wreath was sent, across the Potomac River, to the historically black neighborhood in Washington where the African American Civil War Memorial commemorates more than 200,000 blacks who fought for the North in the war. These soldiers have long been ignored by history and other presidents.

Of course, this year's rites were not without controversy. A group of university professors petitioned the White House to end a longstanding practice of sending a wreath to a monument to Confederate soldiers on the cemetery grounds. That fell on deaf ears. Why must every historic moment in this country be marred by a small group of people? This controversy didn't start with President Obama, so why should he bear the brunt of the nitpicking by these people? I do understand the gist of their complaint, that the monument in question, the Arlington Confederate Monument, stood for white nationalism and sought to legitimize the secession and the principles of the Confederacy. As an African American, I cannot embrace the Confederacy with open arms because of what it meant to blacks in this country, but I certainly don't expect President Obama to take a hard-line position against anything remotely connected to the issue. This is clearly not the time and place for this, given the pressing issues he is confronting today.

This controversy should not diminish the fact that so many of our men and women in uniform have given of themselves selflessly to fight for their country. We have the finest military personnel in the world and we must pay homage to them for their courage, bravery and dedication to this country.