Should the US remove Confederate memorials, flags, and GAZETTE: What do you say to those who argue that the removal of such statues in prominent public settings dishonors the memory of those who died fighting for the Confederacy? The video of the officer with his knee on George Floyds neck was so extreme. I think it dishonors them to celebrate the men who killed them and tried to kill off the American nation. Jack Jenkins, How the Charleston Shooting Is Linked to the Confederate Flag, According to A South Carolinian, thinkprogress.org, June 19, 2015, 3. A: My first book (A City of Marble) was about the Roman emperor Augustus and how he used the built environment to shape civic identity at a time of great change for Rome. [17] [18] The Lost Cause mythology was used to continue the idea that black people needed to be subjugated for their own good and as justification for Jim Crow laws. It is not acceptable to state that statues represent history if they do not represent the roles and responsibilities they serve. [41]. Memorials serve as a permanent reminder of our values, as well as a place to honor and display them in public. Ive said it before: There is an important difference between helping to create the United States and trying to destroy it. The rally protested the proposed removal of statues of Confederate Army Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. These figures were not commonly known to be ridden by equestrians. Police stopped these protesters, but statues are coming down around the U.S., yanked down or removed by local governments. Manisha Sinha, a Civil War historian at the University of Connecticut, says when it comes to, say, Robert E. Lee, take it down. As a result, the monumentos, as well as the ellos located in the various areas of the city, are erigen within the context of the community. 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. The slippery slope goes further, allowing anyone to destroy any statue they disagree with. Removing Statues Means 'Our Society Is Evolving,' Say Historians, Activists The line is subjective, difficult to draw, and easy to reinterpret, leaving no memorial protected. Adam Serwer, The Myth of the Kindly General Lee, theatlantic.com, June 4, 2017, 19. Over the last few years, we have seen an increase in the demolition of statues of heroes who, from one day to the next, appear to follow the exploits of the Egyptian Pharaohs. George Gerbner, PhD, and Larry Gross coined the term symbolic annihilation in 1976 to describe the lack of representation of a group of people. Eight US presidents owned slaves while in office, with an additional four owning slaves while not in office. 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Senior Editor at Arc Digital. 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. The intention was to intimidate Black while reinforcing white power structures in America. Latisha Jensen, Portland Man Describes Tearing Down Thomas Jefferson Statue: Its Not Vandalism, wweek.com, June 20, 2020, 12. These statues are a reminder of our history, both good and bad. Since antiquity, statues in public places have been primarily used to represent power and authority. They should be removed from public spaces because they serve as a reminder of the negative effects of racism and bigotry, as well as a symbol of how far we have come since the colonial era. Managing Editor Cicero was a great orator, an outstanding lawyer, a spokesman for balanced government, and the single person most responsible for transmitting the Greek philosophical tradition to Western Europe. 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. There are statues being targeted of people like Ulysses S. Grant, of people like President George Washington, who were not involved in the Confederacy. The Confederates lost the war, the rebellion. What Are The Pros and Cons of FHA Loans For Buyers and Sellers What purpose do they serve in society? 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. Explain your answer with examples and reasoning. Lets talk about the history of these statues. In the modern-day case of the removal of U.S. monuments that many argue commend white supremacy and colonialism, the shift in power could be seen as from those who deny the racist overtones of such structures or who maintain that some monuments have historical or aesthetic value worth preserving to those who embrace a national culture of inclusion. Evan Andrews, How Many U.S. Presidents Owned Enslaved People?, history.com, Sep. 3, 2019, 45. 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. 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. 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. 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. Other statues of historic figures, such as slave-owning presidents or imperialists like Christopher Columbus, promote similar oppressive and revisionist messages. Are you. 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. 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. The First Amendment protects everyones speech, not just the speech approved by the majority. Catherine Thorbecke, Walmart donates $100K to replace Arkansas' Confederate-linked statues at the US Capitol, abcnew.go.com, July 7, 2020, 32. 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. Taney's bust was replaced with one of Thurgood Marshall. ASU Associate Professor of English Kathleen Lamp, a historian who specializes in the rhetoric of public art, including memorials and monuments, said such controversy is as old as time. Squares with statues of ostensibly virtuous civil leaders at the center often came out of the City Beautiful movement. 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. On the one hand, some argue that they are historical landmarks and should be preserved. As some commentators point out, the destruction weakens our consciousness of history, including historys darker side. Even more importantly, however, erasing monuments of once-revered figures upsets an unspoken but long-prevailing consensus governing our decisions of whom to commemorate. Valerie Strauss, Christopher Columbus: 3 Things You Think He Did That He Didnt, washingtonpost.com, Oct. 14, 2013, 22. Some jurisdictions have placed explanatory plaques beside Confederate monuments to teach a more complete history of the Confederacy. These battles have a strong historical context, as they were influenced by a very Venezuelan tradition: Bolivarian political historicism. It is also important to remember there is a difference between removing the statues and destroying them. [47] Do we exclude the achievements of these figures from public display because they displayed controversial behavior? From a religious/Christian. Statues Commemorating Slave Traders Should Be Removed But Not Disposed The argument is that these statues glorify individuals who have harmed marginalized groups, and that they should be removed from public spaces. What do you think? It was an event that forced segregationists to come down rather than a single persons actions. The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill, by Rob Natelson, opinion contributor - 09/20/17 7:40 AM ET, First Republic fallout: Democrats fume as regulators bail out yet another failed bank, Yellen says drop-dead date for debt ceiling is June 1, Hunter Biden appears in court for paternity case, Big birds are having fewer chicks as climate changes, AI chatbot outperforms human doctors in responding to patient questions, Bidens plan to address migrant surge may make it worse, Who will replace Tucker Carlson at Fox News? Do the statues represent or misrepresent the countrys history? It is unfortunate that they are considered public art works rather than memorializing them. 746 Words3 Pages. 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. Each of Trafalgar Squares four plinths will house four statues of Horatio Nelson. Were holding them up as a model of civic identity, of what the rest of us should be doing. 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. Instructions for Pros / Cons Paper; Five (5) page essay (2) pages of "pro" and (2) pages of "cons . 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. Was there no other way to handle that situation? These men who are depicted as heroes fought for the institution of slavery. These statues not only glorify anti-abolitionists but they remind people of the strong racism of the time. During the global Black Lives Matter protests 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-holding Founding Fathers in general, as well as historic monuments to Abraham Lincoln and abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass. The Globe | Pro / Con: Historical Monuments Thus, we honor Columbus by monuments, place names, and a federal holiday. And the vast majority of these statues were erected during the height of the Jim Crow movement, as historian Kevin M. Kruse has shown. 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. The debate over removing Confederate statues continues to rage. John Daniel Davidson, Why We Should Keep The Confederate Monuments Right Where They Are, thefederalist.com, Aug. 18, 2017, 37. 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. The monuments go up because, without Washington, there likely would not have been an American nation. Juan De Anda, Why Representation Matters Now, mediapost.com, April 21, 2020, 28. [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. GREENE: Has your view on all of this changed since George Floyd was killed and we've seen such anger on the streets and such a growing movement at this moment? Workers in Richmond, Va., removed a statue of. For many years people have been arguing whether certain controversial monuments, such as statues, should be destroyed or removed. Confederate monuments, in particular, hold religious, cultural, economic, and political values. Confederate Monuments: Should They Stay or Should They Go? Sarah Fling, The Formerly Enslaved Household of the Grant Family, whitehousehistory.org, Apr. Confederate monuments were put up in response to Blacks getting more rights, as a kind of a backlash. 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. As a result, when you reach the tierra, you will reach the arena. GAZETTE: In recent years, many have called for the removal of monuments honoring Confederate officials and other controversial figures, such as Christopher Columbus, with mixed results. There are a number of reasons why Confederate monuments should be kept. To the best of our knowledge, no resistance is shown in 1895 in the Neapolitan pieza de mrmol; all hecha pedazos must be resisted. Annie Grayer and Clare Foran, "Statue Honoring Mary McLeod Bethune Unveiled in Statuary Hall in US Capitol,". GAZETTE: In the past, people have suggested the monuments should stay, but that additional plaques or other information should be incorporated to add context. Those who argue in favor of keeping political statues in public spaces typically make the following points: 1. A 2018 report from the Southern Poverty Law Center found there are more than 1,700 monuments to the Confederacy still in public spaces. 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. 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. Historians debate America's history of racism and Confederate monuments 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. It started in the 1890s with the Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago. 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. 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. A statue of George Washington in Caracas, Venezuela, was damaged during an attack by a bomb in 2008. Keep reading for all the pros and cons of removing Confederate statues. Should we not honor the contributions of Washington, Jefferson, and Grant to the United States because they owned slaves, as did many men of their standing at the time, even though they struggled with the institution? 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. Pros And Cons Of Removing Confederate Statues | ipl.org There is no path to a peaceful and prosperous country without challenging and rejecting that as a basis for our society. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Monuments of Hope, Memorials to a Poisoned Past, britannica.com, May 25, 2018, 23. The greatest tragedy in the history of the United States was the loss of over a thousand lives as a result of the countrys wars. There are a variety of reasons why Confederate monuments should be removed from public spaces. If so, how? Taking them down is to censor, whitewash, and potentially forget that history. These loans are available for those with a credit score of at least 500. The record has been filed by the gobernantes, but the response has not yet been made. They glorify people who were responsible for terrible things. On the other side, opponents of the statues argue that they celebrate white supremacy. Jeff Kelly Lowenstein, Martin Luther King Jr., Women, and the Possibility of Growth, chicagoreporter.com, Jan. 18, 2019, 48. When I found out they were taking the statue down, it was close to my birthday and felt like a lucky birthday present, Diaz said. [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. GREENE: Historian Manisha Sinha is the author of "The Slave's Cause: A History Of Abolition.". Natalie Huet, Sir Geoff Palmer, Dont Take down Statues - Take down Racism, euronews.com, June 11, 2020, 54. The architect Daniel Burnham was a leader in the movement; he went on to do the McMillan Plan for the National Mall in D.C. Explain your answers. During the 1970s, a reformulated version of the Tariff Act of 1930 was enacted, which allowed the venezolano to dispensa a Cristbal Col*n. This reaccin is made up of two components: the poblacin fluctu and the condena a la indiferencia. Yes, other celebrated Americans were also deeply wrong about slavery, but they aspired to something greater. He was not forgotten or disgraced, but he was not a forgotten figure because he was one of Venezuelas most revered rulers. Michelangelos David is not only a statue of a man, but also a statue of God. This equates to 1.57 jobs, $76,000 in wages and $14,101 in tax revenues for every 1,000 tons of material recycled. Lee was distinguished from his contemporaries by an exemplary career, both in the U.S. and Confederate armies, of competence and honor. GORDON-REED: No. Tomas Strakas Vida Poltica de las Estatuas is a collection of essays. Since this fundamentally conflicts with American values and ideas, they should be removed. When is it right to remove a statue? - BBC News Ellis Cose, Keep Confederate Monuments, but Put Their Horrific History on Center Stage, usatoday, Aug. 21, 2017, 52. The movement against him is part of a wider drive to get rid of monuments to figures who are now. procon@eb.com, 2023 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. And that was simply not correct. Preserving historic statues and place-names can serve a number of positive aims. 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. 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. Many in that group argue the monuments represent Southern heritage. Both Washington and Jefferson were critical to the formation of the country and to the shaping of it in its early years No one puts a monument up to Washington or Jefferson to promote slavery I think on these two, Washington and Jefferson, in particular, you take the bitter with sweet. 3. ASU News sat down with Lamp, whose current scholarship focuses on the classical influence on U.S. public art, memorials and monuments, and how those sites guide understandings of citizenship and civic participation, to learn more about the issues at play in this ongoing dialogue. [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. 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. Confederate monuments, in our society, are an artifact from an era gone wrong. [14] [55], 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 Capitols Statuary Hall. ], ProCon.org, "Historic Statue Removal Top 3 Pros & Cons,", ProCon.org, "Historic Statue Removal Top 3 Pros & Cons. This article was published on January 20, 2022, at Britannica's ProCon.org, a nonpartisan issue-information source. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Statues elevate a person from a historical event rather than demystify it. 2. 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. May 16, 2017 0 The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his mount, Traveler, face the setting sun on Monument Ave. in Richmond,. And while it is true that many of the Virginian Founding Fathers - Washington, Jefferson, Madison - all owned slaves, we put up their statues not to commemorate their slave holding but for different reasons. The reason for that was a movement called City Beautiful. I think in general in this country, statues have held up a very white, male virtue. [10] [11] [12], Washington, Jefferson, and Grant had undeniable ties to slavery. 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 . Why the Christopher Columbus Statue Came Down in Chicago The Revolucin Bolivariana, which took place on October 12, 2002, is made up of a number of planteamientos. "Historic Statue Removal Top 3 Pros & Cons." SINHA: Exactly. On July 13, 2022, Florida erected a statue of Mary McLeod Bethune to replace their confederate soldier statue. A statue of Josphine de Beauharnais, who married Napoleon and became his first wife, was ripped down in Martinique. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [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). 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. Ive been studying the impact of Black Lives Matter on statues and memorials around the world for the past few months. When a king dies, his or her statue is also taken down, as are those of their ancestors. Since Black Lives Matter protests began in response to Columbuss legacy, a number of statues of him have been removed. I dont think theres any value there. Must we allow symbols of racism on public land? 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.. A common type of monuments in this situation are the Confederacy monuments. For example, The cost to remove all the monuments and statues in New Orleans could cost $600,000. GORDON-REED: Plaques can work in some situations. Public Symbols of the Confederacy, splcenter.org, Feb. 1, 2019, 15. Protesters next to a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va. Source: Abdazizar. 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. They often depict political leaders, but more often military leaders. They are usually constructed to commemorate momentous events or important figures in history. Gary Younge is a professor of sociology at the University of Manchester. SINHA: I think then it becomes a purely destructive exercise, a way you are simply destroying all monuments and all statues. They can be offensive and hurtful to certain groups of people. As James Grossman, PhD, Executive Director of the American Historical Association, notes, Its not just that the statues represent white supremacy, but the purpose of building the statues was the perpetuation of white supremacy. Other examples are the decisions to name towns in New York State, Illinois, and Indiana after the Roman consul,Marcus Tullius Cicero. The statues are also seen as ahistorical and ahistorical in depicting people who contributed to slavery, attempted to secede from the United States, and fought for independence from the United States. They represent the establishments value system at any given time, regardless of the circumstances.
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