But it doesn't... in any way, shape, or form. The war ended in 1865, so a statue raised in 1920 would be 55 years since the end of the war. If a person enrolled at 18 than that would make them 73.
The irony is that Lee himself didn't want memorials built after the war and preferred to have the south move on. He stated when asked, "As regards the erection of such a monument as is contemplated; my conviction is, that however grateful it would be to the feelings of the South, the attempt in the present condition of the Country, would have the effect of retarding, instead of accelerating its accomplishment; & of continuing, if not adding to, the difficulties under which the Southern people labour.." While later in the same text he noted that such statues could be erected in "better times" the question has to be asked- What would be better times?
The "Lost Cause" revisionist history started in the 1920s after Lee's death by members of KKK and other southern organizations that favoured segregation or a return to the "good old days" (which weren't actually very good... the south was extremely underdeveloped and poor). The statue in Charlottesville, Va went up in 1924, at the height of this revisionist history period (or for the Trump fans in the house, the "fake news" period).
Lee was a complex character. He both celebrated the end of slavery but noted that black southerners weren't capable of acting as a real race. His anti-slavery stance seems to be associated with the post war period, so there is a strong possibility that this change of heart was related to his need to maintain his lifestyle in a reconstructionist south rather than any change of opinion, though this is impossible to prove with any veracity.
that said, whatever the motivation for the statues, the fact that Neo-Nazis are the one taking the most offence to them being taken down should all but end any argument over what they stand for today.
