The Removal of All Confederate Statues, Flags, Symbols in America; The topic should be a controversial social issue. [5], The Virginia statues still stood amid the protests following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, though they were tagged with graffiti then (and later removed on July 10, 2021). 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. GAZETTE: Many believe that taking the statues down is an attempt to cover up or erase history. Memorials serve as a permanent reminder of our values, as well as a place to honor and display them in public. However, preservationism remains the dominant outlook of the sector. I dont. Q: How do we decide what stays and what goes? Valerie Strauss, Christopher Columbus: 3 Things You Think He Did That He Didnt, washingtonpost.com, Oct. 14, 2013, 22. Why every single statue should come down - The Guardian ProCon.org. You said that moving to statues like George Washington and the Founding Fathers is going from one extreme to another extreme. The main duty is not to hide the bitter parts. For example, a statue of black abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass was damaged over the July 4, 2020 weekend in Rochester, New York. Iconoclasm is not new; its been going on for thousands of years in different circumstances, Lamp said. OK, actually, that makes it easier. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Monuments of Hope, Memorials to a Poisoned Past, britannica.com, May 25, 2018, 23. Since the election of President Donald Trump, there has been an increased push to remove Confederate statues and monuments. Linda Lopata, If Susan B. Anthony Was Racist, susanb.org (accessed July 7, 2020), 47. 4. The rally protested the proposed removal of statues of Confederate Army GeneralsRobert E. LeeandStonewall Jackson. Here's What to Know, time.com, June 24, 2020, 2. [4], As Karen Cox, PhD, Historian of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, concludes, The state is giving the stamp of approval to these Lost Cause ideas, and the money is a symbol of that approval. That if monuments embody community values, then it should be a community decision. They often depict political leaders, but more often military leaders. During the French Revolution, for example, mobs tore down statues in Catholic Churches. Today progressives vandalize statues of Columbus and Lee, allegedly because of actions motivated by racism. Venezuelas mezcla is characterized by a lack of eclecticism, as well as a widespread, general sense of izquierda. There has been much debate over which statues should be taken down, and whether this is an effective way to combat bigotry. Thus, George Washington is memorialized in statues and place names, although he held slaves. I think what you see with the Lee monument and this new time capsule is a good example of how we can handle that. It is not possible to have them live in a single location at the same time. 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. In response to a question posed by The Daily Mail, the Queen Mothers statue in Trafalgar Square should be chosen. Why are Confederate statues being removed? The main duty is not to hide the bitter parts. [43]. 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. The history of destroying monuments shows the dangers of tearing them down. This equates to 1.57 jobs, $76,000 in wages and $14,101 in tax revenues for every 1,000 tons of material recycled. Robert E. Lee has become a target among those seeking to obviate history allegedly because he held slaves and fought for his home state rather than the nation. The monuments go up because, without Washington, there likely would not have been an American nation. Stupendous vision, energy, competence, and couragedistinguished Christopher Columbus from others of his generation. Jos Vasconcelos and Jos Enrique Rod have been appointed as ambassadors, and they have been actively involved in the work of the United Nations. Managing Editor The record has been filed by the gobernantes, but the response has not yet been made. Who Abraham Lincoln was. List two to three ways. The United States was far from perfect, but the values of the Confederacy, open and unrepentant white supremacy and total disregard for the humanity of black people, to the extent they still exist, have produced tragedy and discord. Who Frederick Douglass was. Plaques can describe the history of slavery and the Civil War, as well as the white supremacist legacy that led to the creation of such monuments. So these statues, I think, need to be contextualized historically. [29] [30], Walmart donated $100,000 to help Arkansas replace statues of Confederate sympathizers Governor James P. Clarke and attorney Uriah Rose in the US Capitol, with statues of Johnny Cash and civil rights pioneer Daisy Bates. GAZETTE: In the past, people have suggested the monuments should stay, but that additional plaques or other information should be incorporated to add context. Rob Natelsonisa constitutional historian and former constitutional law professor, serves as asenior fellow in constitutional jurisprudenceat The Independence Institute, the Montana Policy Institute, and The Heartland Institute. I think the problem with that is that the balance of power in communities can be really problematic. New York Times, From 2017: Confederate Monuments Are Coming down dcross the United States. In illuminating how vulnerable Americans have long been to ugly racial appeals, and how willfully blind we have been to racial injustice, those statues could remind us of the catastrophic consequences of not putting bigotry aside. [51], Some jurisdictions have chosen to put explanatory plaques beside Confederate monuments to teach a more complete history. No one puts a monument up to Washington or Jefferson to promote slavery. All rights reserved. According to media reports, at least 11 statues were severely damaged or destroyed during the true civil rebellion in 2017. Pros And Cons Of Confederate Statues - 720 Words | Bartleby Arguments For And Against Removing Confederate Statues - Ranker It is unfortunate that they are considered public art works rather than memorializing them. Thats a lot of money for one city to pay for, and that money could be used for more important things. Removing Statues Means 'Our Society Is Evolving,' Say Historians, Activists While most Americans watch helplessly, ourstateside Taliban vandalizes and removeslong-standing public monuments. GREENE: But is there an argument that removing these statues could help further the fight for racial equality in our country? Charisse L'Pree, Racial and Gender Exclusion from Media Affects Novel Group Identity; An Experimental Investigation of Symbolic Annihilation, sites.google.com/site/charisselpree2 (accessed July 8, 2020), 29. What do you think of that idea? The campaigns demise was both sad and pathetic. Evan Andrews, How Many U.S. Presidents Owned Enslaved People?, history.com, Sep. 3, 2019, 45. As Rod Dreherargues in The American Conservative,Americans should not make the same mistakes as France. 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. Its saying, We still have the upper hand. [23], Finley hit not only on the current psychological impact of the statues, but also on the intended historical impact. This time also coincided with the creation of many Confederate monuments, though they were coming from a different set of concerns. Chicago, Illinois 60654 USA, Natalie Leppard And there was a real concern about assimilating these immigrants into you can call it Americanization, but what it really was was an assimilation into white, Protestant culture. Following the white nationalist rally in Virginia on August 12, 2017, it was back in the news. SINHA: I've been against it all along. Or a religiously-conservative majority may blacklist outstanding women who in private life opted for legal abortions. It wasnt until a statue, or, more specifically, the absence of one, that he discovered himself in the crosshairs. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. GREENE: But what about historical figures with complicated, often racist histories who were also Union generals or former presidents? Those are the real threats to history. These men who are depicted as heroes fought for the institution of slavery. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. Historic Statue Removal - Pros & Cons - ProCon.org Bethunes is the first state-commissioned statue of a Black person to be included in Statuary Hall. Monuments to controversial historical figures should remain We can do that. I grew up seeing hundreds of small stone and bronze markers along our desert roads telling us about the great white Americans who passed through or discovered the great West or our mighty Colorado River, said Diaz, whowas born and raised in the Fort Mojave Indian Village in Needles, California. These loans are designed to help low and moderate-income borrowers obtain affordable financing. 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. Pros And Cons Of Removing Confederate Statues | ipl.org A copy of the Statue of Liberty was damaged in Valencia, so it was removed from the citys streets. There are a variety of reasons why Confederate monuments should be removed from public spaces. 13.8K Followers. We must fight for the values we admire in our politics and culture. Neil Vigdor and Daniel Victor, "Over 160 Confederate Symbols Were Removed in 2020, Group Says," nytimes.com, Feb. 23, 2021, 56. It is no surprise that he is not fondly remembered by his descendants, who consider themselves natives. During the globalBlack Lives Matterprotests in the summer of 2020, calls to take down the statues were met with citizens not only actively damaging or removing statues of Confederate figures, but targeting statues of slave-holdingFounding Fathers in general, as well as historic monuments to Abraham Lincoln and abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass. Anti-racist protesters want to remove statues that were erected at the peak of Jim Crow segregation in the United States and at the peak of colonial expansion. 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.. GORDON-REED: Ha! Were trying to let the government know were not going to wait any longer for our freedom to happen. [19] Celebrations of Columbus have long been criticized due to his colonization and genocide of Indigenous people, as well as the false narrative that he discovered America when he never set foot on North America. 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. This article was published on January 20, 2022, at Britannica's ProCon.org, a nonpartisan issue-information source. 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. Conocie una fugacidad de las personas y conocie una inscripcin hablada de un poder. Pros And Cons Of Removing Confederate Statues. The monument divided the African American community, exposing various political philosophies on how to deal with white supremacy. Though they may represent history, the history that they represent is done in . The statues do not cause racism and could be used to fight racism if put into historical context. [32] [33], Of the calls to take down Confederate monuments, President Donald Trump stated, This cruel campaign of censorship and exclusion violates everything we hold dear as Americans. Disputation in the political sphere is difficult to come by. Heres a List., nytimes.com, Aug. 28, 2017, 6. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. It does not disqualify him that he selected a husband for his daughter rather than allowing her to select one for herself. There are pros and cons to removing statues. Those who disagree with the beliefs upheld by the statues should work to understand the history these monuments represent, rather than trying to simply remove them and the history from sight. History is almost never the sole motivator for the construction of schools. 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Erecting statues to the lost heroes of the Lost Cause was part of the campaign to revise history. Pro and Con: Historic Statue Removal in the United States Venezuela has been transformed into a nation of tumba-estatuas (or busts), which are statues that serve as a political pedagogy for understanding the history of the past that can be adapted by modernism. 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? Yet, this is not the first time . There have been other videos, of course, but there is something about this image of a prone individual who is not moving and who we know is losing, or has lost, his life after an encounter that started over an alleged counterfeit $20 bill. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Workers in Richmond, Va., removed a statue of. An 1884 Confederate monument to General Robert E. Lee is removed from Lee Circle in New Orleans, Louisiana, on May 19, 2017. Mridas Avenida de los Insignes, the Paseo de los Insignes, and the Coln derribado de Caracas were all parts of the Ch Guevaras visit to the United States. SINHA: I think then it becomes a purely destructive exercise, a way you are simply destroying all monuments and all statues. What do you think? The Straka is spelled with a T. Monument in Madrid, Spain. Many in that group argue the monuments represent Southern heritage. Taneys bust was replaced with one of Thurgood Marshall. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. In several cities, these tributes have been vandalized or torn down by protestors or removed by public officials. Confederate monuments, in our society, are an artifact from an era gone wrong. More than half of Americans support removal of Confederate statues, but 44% still think they should remain. If so, how? Moving such monuments to museums or other places where they can be contextualized and interpreted is a goal of the National Trust. Adolph Hitler gets none, although he was kind to dogs. Opinion: Don't Take Down Confederate Monuments. Here's Why. Gino Spocchia, Christopher Columbus Statue Torn Down, Set on Fire and Tossed in Lake by Anti-Racism Protesters in Virginia, independent.co.uk, June 10, 2020, 9. PRO This was before he became president or even commanded the Union Army. He was also an abolitionist, though a hypocritical and pragmatic one who understood the country would not give up slavery so easily. [56], When 11 Southern states seceded from the Union in 1861, they were very clear that the reason was the impending abolition of slavery. She was supposed to be the civil rights movements most visible figure until she became pregnant. Protesters for. 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. https://www.britannica.com/story/pro-and-con-historic-statue-removal-in-the-united-states, According to theSouthern Poverty Law Center. Jason Hanna and Ralph Ellis, "Charlottesville Removes Two Confederate Statues as Onlookers Cheer," cnn.com, July 10, 2021, 55. I dont think theres any value there. Monuments of people statuary I think come out of a tradition of imitation. Political iconoclasm has a dark and violent historyone we should be eager not to repeat. Confederate monuments were put up in response to Blacks getting more rights, as a kind of a backlash. Statues elevate a person from a historical event rather than demystify it. There is no easy answer to this question, as there are pros and cons to both sides.
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should statues be removed pros and cons