Should historic statues be taken down? Protesters next to a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va. Who Frederick Douglass was. I cannot see myself pulling down a statue in that way. It has also been suggested that statues shouldn't be removed but new plaques could be added which explain why the person is controversial, for example reflecting both the good and bad things. Those are the real threats to history. Regardless of whether historic statues are removed or remain, what sort of statues, memorials, or other art would you like to see in public spaces? The monuments go up because, without Washington, there likely would not have been an American nation. GORDON-REED: Ha! Many celebrities have asked that their names be added to the list over the years, including David Beckham, Bill Morris, Mary Seacole, Benny Hill, and Paul Gascoigne. In several cities, these tributes have been vandalized or torn down by protestors or removed by public officials. 1. First, virtually everyone acts in ways consistent with contemporaneous social normsnorms of which later generations may disapprove. In later years, Lee alsodistinguished himself as an educator: As president of the institution that is nowWashington and Lee University, he was largely responsible for fashioning the modern college honor code. They teach us, and it depends on us whether we practice what we learn. Its a pleasure to be a part of the politics of Los diferentes estrellas de la Avenida. A few years ago, the nation stood watch as Confederate statues started tumbling down at the hands of protestors or at the direction of city officials, seeking peace and reckoning mainly throughout the South after the deaths of Black men at the hands of police and other racial injustices. I certainly understand the emotion the passion particularly if government officials have turned a blind eye to previous petitions from the community. Washington owned over 300, Jefferson over 600, and Grant worked on his wifes family plantation and inherited one slave upon his father-in-laws death. In a 5-4 vote, the court rejected the Trump administration's push to end an Obama-era program that gives nearly 700,000 Dreamers the ability to work in the United States and avoid deportation. In the United States, Confederate monuments are erected as public displays to commemorate the Confederate States of America, its soldiers and leaders. Perhaps that is precisely why the standard is flouted by those who want to politicize everything. NPR Morning Edition, For Stanton, All Women Were Not Created Equal, npr.org, July 13, 2011, 46. Catherine Thorbecke, Walmart donates $100K to replace Arkansas' Confederate-linked statues at the US Capitol, abcnew.go.com, July 7, 2020, 32. Activists are campaigning for a statue of Cecil Rhodes to be removed from an Oxford college. Advocates of removing statutes of controversial figures suggest that these monuments represent individuals whose actions and legacies should not be celebrated or memorialised. Chan School of Public Health celebrates opening of $25M Thich Nhat Hanh Center for research, approaches to mindfulness, Women who suppressed emotions had less diverse microbiomes in study that also found specific bacterial link to happiness, Tenn. lawmaker Justin Pearson, Parkland survivor David Hogg 23 talk about tighter gun control, GOP attempts to restrict voting rights, importance of local politics, Dangers involved in rise of neurotechnology that allows for tracking of thoughts, feelings examined at webinar, 2023 The President and Fellows of Harvard College. The Robert E. Lee monument, erected several decades after the Civil War to commemorate the Confederate general, was recently removed following more than a year of protests for racial justice. In recent years, there has been a movement to take down statues of historical figures who have been accused of racism, sexism, and other forms of bigotry. The shooter was said to have glorified the Confederate South, posing in Facebook photos with the Battle Flag of the Northern Virginia Army (also known now as the Confederate flag, though it never represented the Confederate States) and touring historical Confederate locations before the shooting. So to me, if statues are performing this work of showing us what we most value as a society, once our values change, no, we shouldnt keep them. If there are statues of black Americans in the future, such as Kehinde Wileys 2019 statue of a black man riding horseback in a pose similar to those of Confederate statues, they could be built. I understand the importance of remembering those who died fighting for both sides of the war. SINHA: Well, I think it is important not to go from one extreme to the other. It would be odd for me to condone other people doing something I would not do. [52], Next to the Peace Monument in Atlanta, Georgia, a plaque reads, This monument should no longer stand as a memorial to white brotherhood; rather, it should be seen as an artifact representing a shared history in which millions of Americans were denied civil and human rights. [24], Sheffield Hale, JD, President and Chief Executive of the Atlanta History Center, stated of the plaque, I do think it gives [people] a starting point, which is sorely needed right now, in our society, as a way to deal with contentious issues. George Martin, Why Confederate Monuments Should Be Preserved and Honored, charlotteobserver.com, July 6, 2017, 38. I have a complex relationship with monuments, said Diaz, now a world-renowned poet. Eight US presidents owned slaves while in office, with an additional four owning slaves while not in office. Though they may represent history, the history that they represent is done in . Q: Are there any monuments that, even though they send a message most agree is now outdated or harmful, should still be kept as a kind of reminder of what not to do, or what we have overcome? No one puts a monument up to Washington or Jefferson to promote slavery. 3. They harbored cultural bias. Defend the existence of confederate statues as ways of honoring the past with the United Daughters of the Confederacy, an organization devoted to the memory of Confederate soldiers. There are now more than 30 statues and monumental pieces in his honor in the United States. There is an issue which has sparked some conflict which is based on the topic of whether or not Confederate Statues and Confederate symbols should be removed due to the background that they represent. The police killing of George Floyd sparked widespread protests and reignited efforts across the U.S. to remove Confederate and other statues viewed as symbols of slavery and racism. There are a number of reasons why Confederate monuments should be kept. GORDON-REED: I would say there are other places for that on battlefields and cemeteries. Federal judge rules Pennsylvania school district must allow After School Satan Facebook privacy settlement: Who is eligible for a payment? How? Question: Why do we have monuments and memorials? The campaign to remove controversial monuments and memorials has attracted a lot of criticism - charges that we are "erasing" history or imposing our own values and perspectives on people . A year after the United States had a diplomatic confrontation with Venezuela, Washington had a diplomatic confrontation with Caracas, and Venezuela had a diplomatic confrontation with Washington. It was a great energy to be a part of removing that statue and seeding something new in its place; a little piece of respect and love for the land, which is what I consider the poem to be.. Its a different use of the space, one that recognizes the damage done by colonialism and that values self-representation of people of color and Indigenous people that have previously been excluded from such spaces. I think the difference that George Floyd's murder has made and that's been a bit heartening for me is that ordinary American citizens have finally realized what these statues symbolize and how they have been a standing affront for African Americans and their quest for equal citizenship in this country because Black Americans have always been against it. The principal legacy of Confederate statues is white supremacy and slavery. Defunding the humanities, cutting history classes and departments. MANISHA SINHA: It always astonished me as a Civil War historian to see statues commemorating Confederate generals and politicians who had literally committed treason against this country in order to uphold human bondage. It is not acceptable to state that statues represent history if they do not represent the roles and responsibilities they serve. A 2018 report from the Southern Poverty Law Center found there are more than 1,700 monuments to the Confederacy still in public spaces. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [54], According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), 59 Confederate statues and nine markers or plaques were removed from public land in 19 US states between June 17, 2015 and July 6, 2020. Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to keep political statues in public spaces is a complex one. The Onion looks at the pros and cons of removing historical statues. A statue of Lord Charles Colston was erected in Britain more than 60 years before slavery was abolished there. For example, The cost to remove all the monuments and statues in New Orleans could cost $600,000. On July 13, 2022, Florida erected a statue of Mary McLeod Bethune to replace their confederate soldier statue. Rebecca Klar, Arthur Ashe Statue on Richmond's Monument Avenue Tagged with White Lives Matter Graffiti, thehill.com, June 17, 2020, 50. Jos Vasconcelos and Jos Enrique Rod have been appointed as ambassadors, and they have been actively involved in the work of the United Nations. Any statue removal may result in the removal of monuments from any individual with a problematic history. I dont think theres any value there. All rights reserved. A statue of Cecil Rhodes being removed from the University of Cape Town campus, South Africa, 2015. The issue rose to prominence again in 2017 after an Aug. 12 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned violent and deadly. They are not an accurate representation of our countrys diverse population. The removal of monuments erases the memory of those who fought against them in defense of the values they represent. History protests Confederate Monuments and Other Disputed Memorials Have Come Down in Cities Across America. Adam Serwer, The Myth of the Kindly General Lee, theatlantic.com, June 4, 2017, 19. Statues elevate a person from a historical event rather than demystify it. In particular, a lot of our civic buildings our courthouses, our state capitals, even our public squares and parks are in the neoclassical style. As for museums, people I know who work in museums tear their hair out about this suggestion, that somehow, were going to ship all these Confederate monuments off to the lucky museum that has to find a place to put them. Heres a List., nytimes.com, Aug. 28, 2017, 6. Southern Poverty Law Center, Whose Heritage? The SPLC reported at least 160 monuments were removed in 2020 after George Floyds death, more than the prior four years combined At last count, about 704 Confederate monuments remained on public land. It is hard to explain on other than political grounds why so many more monuments and places arededicated to John F. Kennedythan to much better presidents. Eventually, police descended on the. Theres nothing to memorialize there, except a history of white supremacy and treason. Make sure to visit the Southern Poverty Law Centers Whose Heritage: Public Symbols of the Confederacy resource. Common faults are, by definition, common. Lawrence A. Kuznar, PhD, Professor of Anthropology at Indiana UniversityPurdue University Fort Wayne, stated that removing Confederate statues is a whitewashing of our history that destroys our ability to remember inconvenient truths from our past. Greta Anderson, When Free Speech and Racist Speech Collide, insidehighered.com, June 23, 2020, 36. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. There is no path to a peaceful and prosperous country without challenging and rejecting that as a basis for our society. Are you. The Shepherd monument would not have been returned to the National Park Service if it did not provide interpretive signs and returned it to its rightful owner. Who Abraham Lincoln was. These battles have a strong historical context, as they were influenced by a very Venezuelan tradition: Bolivarian political historicism. When it was founded, there was a lot of discussion about how it was important to have representations of leaders of civic virtue in the space where our current leaders are, so they have an example to strive for. GAZETTE: Many believe that taking the statues down is an attempt to cover up or erase history. Jackson was a slave owner. A high-profile decision to tear down a famous bronze figure of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va., was halted by a court challenge, which was extended indefinitely on Thursday. Those who argue in favor of keeping political statues in public spaces typically make the following points: 1. What is that extreme? PRO AND CON: Should Confederate monuments be removed? It is unfortunate that they are considered public art works rather than memorializing them. Or a religiously-conservative majority may blacklist outstanding women who in private life opted for legal abortions. Gary Younge is a professor of sociology at the University of Manchester. The First Amendment protects everyones speech, not just the speech approved by the majority. Richard Allen Greene, King Leopold II Statues Are Being Removed in Belgium. Police stopped these protesters, but statues are coming down around the U.S., yanked down or removed by local governments. Robert Draper, Toppling Statues Is a First Step toward Ending Confederate Myths, nationalgeographic.com, July 2, 2020, 24. A: Theres certainly a school of thought that says so, that maybe they could be taken out of civic spaces and put into a museum where they can be recontextualized. The fact that pro-Confederate sentiments have become unpopular is. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. The Mdia Exterior de Chvez highlights how the country responds to its problems: through its actions, the country seeks to advance human rights, including the rights of foreigners, as a result of the decreto de 1817. According to media reports, at least 11 statues were severely damaged or destroyed during the true civil rebellion in 2017. Does this moment, and these efforts feel different to you? Do we protect Confederate graves and battlefields? When were talking about the Lee statue, its a really good example of what can happen when there is disagreement in the community about what its values are. [35]. By removing them, we can censor, whitewash, and potentially forget about the history. GREENE: But is there an argument that removing these statues could help further the fight for racial equality in our country? The Confederate Monument to Robert E. Lee Is Removed from Its Perch, Creative Commons, May 19, 2017, While the debate whether Confederate statues should be taken down has been gaining momentum for years, the issue gained widespread attention after the June 17, 2015, mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. ProCon.org. So for instance, I just read today that the Museum of Natural History wants to take down a statue of Theodore Roosevelt that has an African American man and a Native American man standing alongside him while he's astride on a horse. For proof, just look at the 1911 dedication of a Jefferson Davis statue in New Orleans. When activists deface statues, ultimately what theyre doing is forcing the citys hand so that they either have to put money into restoration, which doubles down on whatever message that monument is sending, or they can just remove it. [1] [2] [3] [4], The issue rose to prominence again in 2017 after an Aug. 12 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned violent and deadly. Sophia A. Nelson, Opinion: Don't Take Down Confederate Monuments. They represent the establishments value system at any given time, regardless of the circumstances. There is one major distraction when it comes to removing statues that detracts from the larger issue at hand: the notion that removing a statue is an act of historical cleansing. Since the statues and properties are not intrinsically bad, we do not remove and destroy them. These statues not only glorify anti-abolitionists but they remind people of the strong racism of the time. How do we know if statues are supposed to tell the story of our ancestors? Take away anything that smacks of the sort of imperialist legacy which clearly that statue embodies. The Confederate monuments and statues should be removed not only because they are offensive and outdated, but also because they represent Virginia in the 1890s rather than in the 21st century. Source: Abdazizar. The Confederate statues were put up when they were put up [not just after the war but largely during periods of Civil Rights tension in the 20th century], to send a message about white supremacy, and to sentimentalize people who had actively fought to preserve the system of slavery. Managing Editor [4], Monuments are ultimately about which values we want to honor and put on public display. First and foremost, they are part of our history and should be preserved as such. Lets argue about the facts, lets put them down on paper or on a marker and have a conversation about them. [24], Geoff Palmer, Scotlands first black professor, who disagrees with taking down the statues, warned against being distracted by the simple, concrete action of taking down statues: We dont want to leave this so that people looking back in 50 years will say: you know, they took the statues down, why didnt they do something about racism? [53].
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