Theres one school of thought that says communities should be the ones to decide. David Greene talks to Manisha Sinha, professor of American history at the University of Connecticut, about the recent toppling of non-Confederate statues like those of George Washington. History will still be taught. [10] [11] [12], Washington, Jefferson, and Grant had undeniable ties to slavery. I think in general in this country, statues have held up a very white, male virtue. These loans are available for those with a credit score of at least 500. Thus, George Washington is memorialized in statues and place names, although he held slaves. They want to demolish our heritage so they can impose a new oppressive regime in its place. [9] Trump argued the plight to save the statues is a battle to save the Heritage, History, and Greatness of our Country! [34], Citizens of the United States have the right to hold controversial opinions and build statues to honor their beliefs. Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. Bethunes is the first state-commissioned statue of a Black person to be included in Statuary Hall. While the debate whetherConfederatestatues 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. As Rod Dreherargues in The American Conservative,Americans should not make the same mistakes as France. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. This article was published on January 20, 2022, at Britannica's ProCon.org, a nonpartisan issue-information source. People on both sides vigorously defend their position, pointing out disturbingfacts about the Founding Fathers and the founding of America as reasons why the Confederate monuments arent so different from Revolutionary monuments. Do we protect Confederate graves and battlefields? The Recycling Economic Information (REI) Report found that, in a single year, recycling and reuse activities in the United States accounted for 757,000 jobs, $36.6 billion in wages and $6.7 billion in tax revenues. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the other side of the issue now helps you better argue your position. [47] Do we exclude the achievements of these figures from public display because they displayed controversial behavior? In June 2021, the US House of Representatives voted to remove all confederate statues and bust of Roger B. Taney (the US Supreme Court Chief Justice who wrote the Dred Scott decision) from the US Capitol's Statuary Hall. A petition in Tennessee gained 22,736 signatures (and counting as of July 8, 2020) to replace all Confederate statues in the state, including the statue of Confederate Army General and KKK Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest that stands in the states capitol building, with statues of Dolly Parton. It is also important to remember there is a difference between removing the statues and destroying them. Since antiquity, statues in public places have been primarily used to represent power and authority. All rights reserved. Since this fundamentally conflicts with American values and ideas, they should be removed. Do the statues represent or misrepresent the countrys history? In some cases, moreover, politics induces decision makers to ignore the traditional standards. Statues could be built to honor George Washington Carver, Madame CJ Walker, Shirley Chisholm, Jesse Owens, Gwendolyn Brooks, Ruby Bridges, Mae Jemison, Charles Richard Drew, Mary Jackson, and countless others. The main duty is not to hide the bitter parts. [43]. Arguments for why Confederate statues should be removed include the Confederacy's shameful history of treason and white supremacy, as well as the original purpose of these statues, which was to intimidate Black Americans while celebrating white power. They teach us, and it depends on us whether we practice what we learn. Following the white nationalist rally in Virginia on August 12, 2017, it was back in the news. These loans are designed to help low and moderate-income borrowers obtain affordable financing. [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. It is unfortunate that they are considered public art works rather than memorializing them. John Daniel Davidson, Political Editor at The Federalist, explained, That they were wrong about slavery does not excuse us today from the burden of trying to understand what motivated them to fightand what motivated them and their families to undertake a flurry of monument-building decades later as the surviving veterans began to die off A more mature society would recognize that the past is always with you and must always be kept in mind. There was the thought that these immigrants needed to be turned into productive workers, and that concern is where a lot of our public spaces come from. Stephen E. Ambrose, Founding Fathers and Slaveholders, smithsonianmag.com, Nov. 2002, 43. What are your thoughts on a separate museum for such statues? The monuments go up because, without Washington, there likely would not have been an American nation. The removal of Confederate statues is a painful reminder of the countrys racist past and present. 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 He was also an abolitionist, though a hypocritical and pragmatic one who understood the country would not give up slavery so easily. The argument is that these statues glorify individuals who have harmed marginalized groups, and that they should be removed from public spaces. In the event that these statues are removed, the country would lose a valuable educational tool about the effects of the Civil War. It would be odd for me to condone other people doing something I would not do. Activism forces a reckoning with what our values are. The definition of a statue includes a work of art that represents something as well. Only one battle was fought in the larger history wars between Columbus and Rome. 2. The idea is, this is a statue of a civil leader, and they are someone whose virtue or deeds were meant to emulate as citizens. For one thing, it can be a close question whether a persons extraordinary feats made the world a better place: Franklin D. Roosevelt is widely commemorated, even though scholarsstill argueover whether his leadership during the Great Depression actually improved American life. I got more interested in the U.S. history of monuments when I started to look around and wonder where all the neoclassical buildings came from. Claudette Colvin was a member of the Womens Missionary Union before Rosa Parks was born. I have a complex relationship with monuments, said Diaz, now a world-renowned poet. On the other side, opponents of the statues argue that they celebrate white supremacy. What purpose do they serve in society? The XVI Tumba-estatuas de Guaicaipuro present the main lder of the resistencia indgena a la conquista del Valle de Caracas. What does that say to black citizens of the state, or other citizens, or to younger generations? [4], Of about 5,193 public statues of people in the United States, only 394 are of women, and far fewer are of black Americans or other people of color. Is there a higher moral cause that supersedes the law? There are now more than 30 statues and monumental pieces in his honor in the United States. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization There was no choice left us but submission to the mandates of abolition, or a dissolution of the Union, whose principles had been subverted to work out our ruin. [15] [16], However, after the Confederate States lost the Civil War, the South revised history. According to Richard Rose, President of Atlantas NAACP, there can be no contextual or commutational discussion of racism because the statues were intended to promote white supremacy. Gordon-Reed is a professor of history and the Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History at Harvard Law School. The Paseo del Cambio, which is located on the opposite side of the street, has been the site of a number of busts. Poli Sci prof (IR) at U. Illinois. 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. There are far more dangerous threats to history. But I think whats so interesting about the City Beautiful movement is that it controlled public spaces in a very specific way, and it was ultimately a movement about assimilation, and a movement that came out of a real concern about immigration. The removal of Confederate monuments is usually around $1.8 million in total, but this varies by location. The announcement caused a stir because it made it clear that nothing else has been done to honor him until now: no other president has done so. While he hoped the next generation would abolish slavery, he wrote in 1820 that maintaining the institution of slavery was like holding a wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. [40], Grant came from an abolitionist family, freed the one slave he owned in 1859, supported black enlisted Army men, led the Union Army in the Civil War to abolish slavery, and was endorsed by Frederick Douglass for president. Sophia A. Nelson claims in her book that Washingtons Lee University didnt hate black students because it had statues of Robert E. Lee and George Washington. They are a part of our cultural heritage. The plaques can not only detail the history of slavery and the Civil War, but also the white segregationist history that promoted the building of such statues to promote the revisionist Lost Cause history. Tension over statues has arisen within the recent Black Lives Matter protests. Many people believe that these statues and monuments are inciting white supremacy and promoting violence. Does this moment, and these efforts feel different to you? Neil Vigdor and Daniel Victor, "Over 160 Confederate Symbols Were Removed in 2020, Group Says," nytimes.com, Feb. 23, 2021, 56. Confederates died defending slavery as an institution. Even more importantly, however, erasing monuments of once-revered figures upsets an unspoken but long-prevailing consensus governing our decisions of whom to commemorate. The First Amendment protects everyones speech, not just the speech approved by the majority. The Day of the Race has been condemned by social science as a result of its extreme racism, including the Nazism of World War II. Taney's bust was replaced with one of Thurgood Marshall. Instructions for Pros / Cons Paper; Five (5) page essay (2) pages of "pro" and (2) pages of "cons . Erecting statues to the lost heroes of the Lost Cause was part of the campaign to revise history. Natalie Huet, Sir Geoff Palmer, Dont Take down Statues - Take down Racism, euronews.com, June 11, 2020, 54. Robert Draper, Toppling Statues Is a First Step toward Ending Confederate Myths, nationalgeographic.com, July 2, 2020, 24. Photograph: Schalk van Zuydam/AP A similar story can be told in the southern states of the US. And that was simply not correct. According to theSouthern 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. A 2018 report from the Southern Poverty Law Center found there are more than 1,700 monuments to the Confederacy still in public spaces. Today, some of the worst leaders of the French Revolution have names on public sights, like the metro station named for Maximilien Robespierre, architect of the Reign of Terror. Defunding the humanities, cutting history classes and departments. The statues do not cause racism and could be used to fight racism if put into historical context. Theres no doubt that with regime change, monuments are removed, place names are changed, portraits are added to postal stamps, and textbook content changes. Elliot Ackerman, The Confederate Monuments We Shouldnt Tear Down, nytimes.com, July 7, 2020, 49. The Avalon Project, A Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union., avalon.law.yale.edu (accessed July 8, 2020), 17. The US National Trust for Historic Preservation offers a point of contrast, having stated: 'We should always remember the past, but do not necessarily need to revere it'. It does not disqualify him that he selected a husband for his daughter rather than allowing her to select one for herself. Disputation in the political sphere is difficult to come by. Phil Davis, George Washington Monument in Druid Hill Park Spray-Painted with Destroy Racists, Anti-Police Sentiment, baltimoresun.com, June 21, 2020, 11. [31], In Louisville, a statue of Confederate soldier John Breckinridge Castleman was removed. 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. It depends on who the person is and what the objections are. Protesters for. Federal judge rules Pennsylvania school district must allow After School Satan Facebook privacy settlement: Who is eligible for a payment? I dont think theres any value there. [39] [40] [41], However, Washington led the Continental Army to victory over the British, held together the country as the first President over two terms, resisted calls to become King of the country, and, in his will, freed his slaves upon his wifes death. These monuments are controversial because they are seen by some as honoring the Confederacy and its pro-slavery and white supremacist policies and by others as historical markers of the nations history. GAZETTE: In the past, people have suggested the monuments should stay, but that additional plaques or other information should be incorporated to add context. Photo courtesy of Getty Images/iStockphoto, (480) 965-9657 The statues represent the countrys history, no matter how complicated. Brian Palmer and Seth Freed Wessler, The Costs of the Confederacy, smithsonianmag.com, Dec 2018, 5. Or a religiously-conservative majority may blacklist outstanding women who in private life opted for legal abortions. [14] [17]. In several cities, these tributes have been vandalized or torn down by protestors or removed by public officials. Despite its relatively small price tag, it is still worth considering, especially when compared to the total cost of the Civil War and its aftermath. The statues misrepresent history, and glorify people who perpetuated slavery, attempted secession from United States, and lost the Civil War. Question: Why do we have monuments and memorials? The Confederate statues have no redeeming qualities to them, but other statues certainly do. "Historic Statue Removal Top 3 Pros & Cons." And the vast majority of these statues were erected during the height of the Jim Crow movement, as historian Kevin M. Kruse has shown. ProCon.org. At the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth, a significant portion of anti-imperialist and Bolivarian thinking was based on those ideas. But so did tens of thousands of others similarly situated. Alexander Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy, was completely clear about its goal: The cornerstone [of the Confederate States of America] rests upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition.. The main duty is not to hide the bitter parts. A monument to Cecil Rhodes is located in South Africa, and another stands in Britain. There is no easy answer to this question, as there are pros and cons to both sides. A: What we choose to memorialize speaks to our values as a society, and often, certain populations are excluded entirely from that. Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 30, 2020, 35. Public Symbols of the Confederacy, splcenter.org, Feb. 1, 2019, 15. ProCon/Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. The fact that a particular vice prevailed in a persons place and time becomes an excuse for stripping recognition from people whose lives contradict the propaganda of those in power. Catherine Thorbecke, Walmart donates $100K to replace Arkansas' Confederate-linked statues at the US Capitol, abcnew.go.com, July 7, 2020, 32. 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. The statue in this state refers to the state constitution or an act of the legislature or initiative or referendum. GAZETTE:As a law professor, what is your view on people unilaterally deciding to pull down statues they find offensive after officials often enjoined by laws or judicial rulings barring such action decline to do so? Becky Little, How the Cult of Robert E. Lee Was Born, history.com, Aug. 14, 2017, 18. The principal legacy of Confederate statues is white supremacy and slavery. Pros. There is no path to a peaceful and prosperous country without challenging and rejecting that as a basis for our society., Supreme Court decision shielding DACA draws relief, celebration, Happiness is not a destination Happiness is the way, Expanding our understanding of gut feelings, Gen Z, millennials need to be prepared to fight for change. [56], When 11 Southern states seceded from the Union in 1861, they were very clear that the reason was the impending abolition of slavery. When the statues are publicly owned, removing them by wanton destruction still usurps decision-making authority from the public. Symbolic annihilation can result in society valuing groups of people less and in internalized negativity among those groups. But I think a better idea there would have been to actually remove the statues of the African American man and the Native American man and maybe let Teddy Roosevelt be there to commend him for his support of conservation and his support for the Natural History Museum. 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? Also removed from the monument's base was a 133-year-old copper time capsule containing artifacts and ephemera related to the Confederacy. Or they go up because of T.J.s views on separation of church and state and other values that we hold dear. There are statues being targeted of people like Ulysses S. Grant, of people like President George Washington, who were not involved in the Confederacy. We should let them stand and use them to remind ourselves of what we are and are not, the cost our forebears paid for our freedom and to educate our children. [38], During the protests following the death of George Floyd in the summer of 2020, many Confederate statues were damaged or toppled, as were statues of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Ulysses S. Grant. Jack Jenkins, How the Charleston Shooting Is Linked to the Confederate Flag, According to A South Carolinian, thinkprogress.org, June 19, 2015, 3. There are pros and cons to removing statues. Common faults are, by definition, common. The rally protested the proposed removal of statues of Confederate Army Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. 1. We can do that. 13.8K Followers. What do you think of that idea? The state's governor introduced legislation in April 2020 to allow cities to remove statues, paving the way for a US$10 million (7.2 million) plan to transform Richmond Virginia's famous . I dont. The toppling of Edward Colston's statue in Bristol has led to a heated debate about memorialisation and what those statues say about their respective societies. Monuments to men who advocated cruelty and barbarism to achieve such a plainly racist end are a grotesque affront to these ideals. Chvez was once an island with no borders and no land. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. These statues are a reminder of our history, both good and bad. The consensus renders the commemoration process more meaningful and less political than it otherwise would be. As a result, when you reach the tierra, you will reach the arena. They are also a reminder of the sacrifices made by those who fought for the Confederacy and a symbol of Southern heritage. To the best of our knowledge, no resistance is shown in 1895 in the Neapolitan pieza de mrmol; all hecha pedazos must be resisted. The Avalon Project, Confederate States of America - A Declaration of the Causes which Impel the State of Texas to Secede from the Federal Union, avalon.law.yale.edu (accessed July 8, 2020), 16. Many in that group argue the monuments represent Southern heritage. {mosads}George Washington is one example of the traditional standard in action. They can be kept in museums with proper historical context rather than on a plinth to be admired. The Confederate statues have no redeeming qualities to them, but other statues certainly do. 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. They provide a sense of identity and pride for many people. There are valid arguments on both sides, and there is no easy answer. Go toProCon.orgto learn more. McCarthy to Russian reporter: I do not support what your country has done to Saudi alfalfa sparks tension in Arizonas Sonoran Desert, Rice's departure brings relief to immigration advocates, Watch live: White House monkeypox response team holds briefing, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Basically any time a new government or regime or religion comes in, stuff gets torn down, temples get sacked. There are many other people who deserve statues that better represent the countrys historical progress and diversity. Managing Editor Theyre models of civic behavior that we should all strive to. Among the items included in a new time capsule that will take its place is a copy of Diazs Pulitzer Prize-winning Postcolonial Love Poem., When my old basketball coach Wendy Larry texted me to tell me the Virginia governor's office was trying to reach me, I had no idea what they might want. I was really dismayed to see the statue of Grant, especially, come down because Grant was never comfortable with owning that one slave that was given to him by his father-in-law. Effective Ways to Save on your Mobile Data, The Law Enforcement Exception To The Use Of Deadly Force, Swearing At Police Officers Is Not Appropriate In Massachusetts, Everything You Need To Know About Car Insurance Companies And Police Reports, The Police In Nigeria Have The Authority To Arrest Without A Warrant Under Certain Circumstances.

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