In response to a question posed by The Daily Mail, the Queen Mothers statue in Trafalgar Square should be chosen. Most monuments I'm aware of attest to conquered people and lands, including my people., 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. Ellis Cose, Keep Confederate Monuments, but Put Their Horrific History on Center Stage, usatoday, Aug. 21, 2017, 52. Claudette Colvin was a member of the Womens Missionary Union before Rosa Parks was born. There are a variety of reasons why Confederate monuments should be removed from public spaces. 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. Heres how we fight back. To access extended pro and con arguments, sources, discussion questions, and ways to take action on the issue of whether historic statues should be taken down in the United States, go to ProCon.org. ProCon/Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. [14] [17]. Ive said it before: There is an important difference between helping to create the United States and trying to destroy it. It started in the 1890s with the Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Redefining the Role of Public Monuments | UC Davis 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. 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. Alex Parsons, Replace All Confederate Statues in Tennessee with Dolly Parton, change.org (accessed July 8, 2020), 31. They are both excellent candidates for the kind of contextualization you alluded to. An 1884 Confederate monument to General Robert E. Lee is removed from Lee Circle in New Orleans, Louisiana, on May 19, 2017. 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. Annette Gordon-Reed, JD, Professor of American Legal History at Harvard University, explained, There is an important difference between helping to create the United States and trying to destroy it. 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. 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. Manisha Sinha, a Civil War historian at the University of Connecticut, says when it comes to, say, Robert E. Lee, take it down. 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. That if monuments embody community values, then it should be a community decision. Their actions also took a violent turn, as when revolutionaries murdered bishops and priests who refused to sign a loyalty oath. 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. Theyre models of civic behavior that we should all strive to. Activism forces a reckoning with what our values are. Public Symbols of the Confederacy, splcenter.org, Feb. 1, 2019, 15. The definition of a statue includes a work of art that represents something as well. 746 Words3 Pages. Argumentative Essay: Should Monuments Be Removed? | ipl.org Theres one school of thought that says communities should be the ones to decide. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. GORDON-REED: I would say there are other places for that on battlefields and cemeteries. Gary Younge is a professor of sociology at the University of Manchester. 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. Several years have passed since the debate over the removal of Confederate statues began. They often depict political leaders, but more often military leaders. Q: What can you tell us about Americas history with monuments and memorials? 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 interpretations have been contradictory, and the results are presented in the form of commentaries. Should Statues Of Historic Figures With Complicated Pasts Be - NPR Confederate Monuments: What Should Replace Them? | Time They teach us, and it depends on us whether we practice what we learn. So for instance, a lot of the sort of backlash against taking down Confederate statues was precisely this. [44] Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and the white suffragists purposefully excluded black women. Study 15 Terms | History Flashcards | Quizlet 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. On July 13, 2022, Florida erected a statue of Mary McLeod Bethune to replace their confederate soldier statue. 5. Managing Editor 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 wasnt until a statue, or, more specifically, the absence of one, that he discovered himself in the crosshairs. All rights reserved. Hannah Natanson, Theres a New Way to Deal with Confederate Monuments: Signs That Explain Their Racist History, washingtonpost.com, Sep. 22, 2019, 53. Southern Poverty Law Center, Whose Heritage? They can be seen as a form of art. For proof, just look at the 1911 dedication of a Jefferson Davis statue in New Orleans. 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. 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. [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. Elliot Ackerman, The Confederate Monuments We Shouldnt Tear Down, nytimes.com, July 7, 2020, 49. [9] And a statue of black tennis star and Civil Rights activist Arthur Ashe was tagged with white lives matter graffiti in Richmond, Virginia. 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. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. These men who are depicted as heroes fought for the institution of slavery. Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to keep political statues in public spaces is a complex one. BBC, Confederate and Columbus Statues Toppled by US Protesters, bbc.com, June 11, 2020, 21. According to media reports, at least 11 statues were severely damaged or destroyed during the true civil rebellion in 2017. 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 victors, the thousands of soldiers black and white in the armed forces of the United States, died to protect this country. The Confederate statues have no redeeming qualities to them, but other statues certainly do. What do you think? I dont think theres any value there. 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. Dessi Gomez, Hello, Dolly? Workers in Richmond, Va., removed a statue of. Phil Davis, George Washington Monument in Druid Hill Park Spray-Painted with Destroy Racists, Anti-Police Sentiment, baltimoresun.com, June 21, 2020, 11. What Should Take Their Place? Valerie Strauss, Christopher Columbus: 3 Things You Think He Did That He Didnt, washingtonpost.com, Oct. 14, 2013, 22. More than half of Americans support removal of Confederate statues, but 44% still think they should remain. Should Statues Be Removed and Destroyed? | Guest Contributor - Politics Red It does not disqualify him that he selected a husband for his daughter rather than allowing her to select one for herself. 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. 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. 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. Last modified on July 14, 2022. [4], Monuments are ultimately about which values we want to honor and put on public display. 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. Robert Draper, Toppling Statues Is a First Step toward Ending Confederate Myths, nationalgeographic.com, July 2, 2020, 24. 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? It depends on who the person is and what the objections are. His explorations united a world previously divided by hemispheres. Many of the men with whom George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Ulysses S. Grant were associated at the time were slaves. These statues are a reminder of our history, both good and bad. There is no easy answer to this question, as there are pros and cons to both sides. These are various statues across the US which honor Confederate leaders or "heroes". Chvez was once an island with no borders and no land. No logr derribarla. Aishvarya Kavi, Activists Push for Removal of Statue of Freed Slave Kneeling Before Lincoln, nytimes.com, June 27, 2020, 20. 2. Even more importantly, however, erasing monuments of once-revered figures upsets an unspoken but long-prevailing consensus governing our decisions of whom to commemorate. Why removing historical monuments is a bad idea | The Hill SINHA: I think then it becomes a purely destructive exercise, a way you are simply destroying all monuments and all statues. SINHA: I've been against it all along. While most Americans watch helplessly, ourstateside Taliban vandalizes and removeslong-standing public monuments. Colleen Walsh, Must We Allow Symbols of Racism on Public Land?, harvard.edu, June 19, 2020, 44. And thats so important, because future generations will see those images of self-representation of groups that have traditionally been excluded from these monuments making a statement about how colonization has affected them, or how they have survived and are resilient. The debate over removing Confederate statues continues to rage. Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 30, 2020, 35. 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?