How do we know if statues are supposed to tell the story of our ancestors? Heres how we fight back. That, my friends, is what we must work toward eradicating. [50], Ellis Cose, Senior Fellow at the ACLU, states that the statues should remain, with plaques and other material in place that point out that these men were traitors, not American heroes, and that their ugly legacy haunts us still. Iconoclasm is not new; its been going on for thousands of years in different circumstances, Lamp said. Since the election of President Donald Trump, there has been an increased push to remove Confederate statues and monuments. They are usually constructed to commemorate momentous events or important figures in history. 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. ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. ProCon.org. We do not erect monuments to people who performed extraordinary feats that were unquestionably evil, even if their characters included some virtuous traits. 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. Residents offered replacement suggestions ranging from boxer Muhammed Ali to writer Wendell Berry. The statues can be kept without glorifying what they once stood for. It wasnt until a statue, or, more specifically, the absence of one, that he discovered himself in the crosshairs. 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. GREENE: Oh, so actually edit the arrangement of the statues. What do you think of that idea? There has been much debate over which statues should be taken down, and whether this is an effective way to combat bigotry. 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 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. If so, how? The stone sentinels that dot our landscape serve as artifacts of the past, providing us with a visual sign of where we may still go. 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. But thats incredibly problematic. Venezuelas mezcla is characterized by a lack of eclecticism, as well as a widespread, general sense of izquierda. [26]. 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. Manisha Sinha, a Civil War historian at the University of Connecticut, says when it comes to, say, Robert E. Lee, take it down. GREENE: Professor, thank you so much for your time. 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. It is not possible to have them live in a single location at the same time. The Removal of All Confederate Statues, Flags, Symbols in America; The topic should be a controversial social issue. Take away anything that smacks of the sort of imperialist legacy which clearly that statue embodies. I was really dismayed to see the statue of Grant, especially, come down because Grant was never. 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. We will know who Robert E. Lee was. On July 13, 2022, a statue of Mary McLeod Bethune was dedicated in Florida in place of the Confederate soldier statue. Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 30, 2020, 35. During the 2017 rebellion in Venezuela, at least 11 Hugo Chvez statues were torn down. GORDON-REED: This moment feels different because theres been a great awakening in the country about police-on-citizen violence. SINHA: I think then it becomes a purely destructive exercise, a way you are simply destroying all monuments and all statues. GAZETTE: In the past, people have suggested the monuments should stay, but that additional plaques or other information should be incorporated to add context. Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to keep political statues in public spaces is a complex one. The rally protested the proposed removal of statues of Confederate Army GeneralsRobert E. LeeandStonewall Jackson. This equates to 1.57 jobs, $76,000 in wages and $14,101 in tax revenues for every 1,000 tons of material recycled. Many of the men with whom George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Ulysses S. Grant were associated at the time were slaves. They often depict political leaders, but more often military leaders. [44] Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and the white suffragists purposefully excluded black women. 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. [14] [17]. The history of destroying monuments shows the dangers of tearing them down. Taking them down is to censor, whitewash, and potentially forget that history. ONLY FOR REPUBLICANS. Linda Lopata, If Susan B. Anthony Was Racist, susanb.org (accessed July 7, 2020), 47. Despite being recognized around the world as a hero, Columbus statues have long been criticized as a result of his colonization and genocide of Indigenous cultures. 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. 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. Theres nothing to memorialize there, except a history of white supremacy and treason. It is also important to remember there is a difference between removing the statues and destroying them. Despite Nicole Douglas' team-leading 14th goal of the season, the Sun Devil soccer team was unable to claim its first Pac-12 victory of the season after falling to the Oregon State Beavers, 2-1 on Thursday night. The standard traditionally applied is as follows: When deciding whom to commemorate by statues, place names, monuments, holidays, currency, or coins we select individuals who performed extraordinary feats that, on balance, made the world a better place. In the United States, Confederate monuments are erected as public displays to commemorate the Confederate States of America, its soldiers and leaders. 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. 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. [42], Jefferson is the author of two of our most dear principles as a country: equality and religious freedom. This time also coincided with the creation of many Confederate monuments, though they were coming from a different set of concerns. 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. ProCon/Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. For many years people have been arguing whether certain controversial monuments, such as statues, should be destroyed or removed. Like, FDR, after all, was responsible for the internment of Japanese American citizens. 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. There is no path to a peaceful and prosperous country without challenging and rejecting that as a basis for our society. There are statues of people all over the place, and they should be removed. 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. SINHA: I've been against it all along. Today progressives vandalize statues of Columbus and Lee, allegedly because of actions motivated by racism. During this period, ethnicities we now consider to be white Irish and Italian, for example were not considered to be white. 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. UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: When do we want it? His disreputable actions reflected attitudes and practices common to his society. ], ProCon.org, "Historic Statue Removal Top 3 Pros & Cons,", ProCon.org, "Historic Statue Removal Top 3 Pros & Cons. According to media reports, at least 11 statues were severely damaged or destroyed during the true civil rebellion in 2017. Or they go up because of T.J.s views on separation of church and state and other values that we hold dear. A statue of George Washington in Caracas, Venezuela, was damaged during an attack by a bomb in 2008. These loans are available for those with a credit score of at least 500. 3. First, removing all these statues and monuments cost a lot of money and take a long time. History is almost never the sole motivator for the construction of schools. 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. Hannah Natanson, Theres a New Way to Deal with Confederate Monuments: Signs That Explain Their Racist History, washingtonpost.com, Sep. 22, 2019, 53. And I also grew up hearing stories from my family or reading in archives the terrible things those men did to my people.. 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. We can do that. They represent the establishments value system at any given time, regardless of the circumstances. The Virginia statues still stood amid the protests following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, though they were tagged with graffiti. There is no easy answer to this question, as there are pros and cons to both sides. Ive said it before: There is an important difference between helping to create the United States and trying to destroy it. Confederates died defending slavery as an institution. 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. Monuments to men who advocated cruelty and barbarism to achieve such a plainly racist end are a grotesque affront to these ideals. Similar oppressive and revisionist messages are promoted by historical statues of presidents such as slave-owning presidents or emperors such as Christopher Columbus. I have a complex relationship with monuments, said Diaz, now a world-renowned poet. The people who hated having black classmates at their school didn't hate us because there were statues of Robert E. Lee or George Washington (our nation's first President and a slave owner) on. The removal of Confederate monuments is usually around $1.8 million in total, but this varies by location. The standard traditionally applied is as follows: When deciding whom to commemorate by statues, place names, monuments, holidays, currency, or coins we select individuals who performed. They can be seen as a form of art. And the vast majority of these statues were erected during the height of the Jim Crow movement, as historian Kevin M. Kruse has shown. They are a reminder of our countrys dark and oppressive history. 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. NPR Morning Edition, For Stanton, All Women Were Not Created Equal, npr.org, July 13, 2011, 46. Should historic statues be taken down? They glorify people who were responsible for terrible things. New Orleans a city of many nations America's largest slave market Jeff Kelly Lowenstein, Martin Luther King Jr., Women, and the Possibility of Growth, chicagoreporter.com, Jan. 18, 2019, 48. Pros. Hecho comn is a part of the Venezuelan Revolution that ended with Hugo Chvezs election as President of the Republic of Venezuela (Y). Photo courtesy of Getty Images/iStockphoto, (480) 965-9657 List two to three ways. What that signals is a shift in power.. 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.