Was Robert E. Lee racist

Answer 1

No. He was one of a good number of Southerners who opposed slavery. He was actually quite the Southern Gentleman, more of a gentleman than Grant was. Lee never smoked, drank alcohol, or cursed in public. Many of his superiors in previous years viewed him as the best soldier since George Washington. He definitely wasn't racist.

"So far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that Slavery is abolished. I believe it will be greatly for the interest of the South. So fully am I satisfied of this that I would have cheerfully lost all that I have lost by the war, and have suffered all that I have suffered to have this object attained."

General Robert E. Lee, May 1, 1870

It is clear that Robert E. Lee was not waging a war because he was in favor of slavery. His valiant efforts were to protect Virginia and other Southern states from Union invasion. At best his chances of success were always 50-50 or less.

It is also important to separate slavery from racism. It's clear that in those days and farther into the future, even some abolitionists were against slavery but did not believe in the equality of races. If that were not so, then men like Martin Luther King Jr. must have been wasting their time. Racism is real in almost every part of the world. And it covers evil voices of any color or race one can think of.