PRO AND CON: Should Confederate monuments be removed? In particular, a lot of our civic buildings our courthouses, our state capitals, even our public squares and parks are in the neoclassical style. The record has been filed by the gobernantes, but the response has not yet been made. The ceremony was whites only, and featured children forming a Confederate flag and singing Dixie.. What Are The Pros and Cons of FHA Loans For Buyers and Sellers Explain your answers. On the one hand, some argue that they are historical landmarks and should be preserved. Taney's bust was replaced with one of Thurgood Marshall. Defunding the humanities, cutting history classes and departments. Heres a List., nytimes.com, Aug. 28, 2017, 6. 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 many other people who could be represented by statues who would better represent the historical progress and diversity of the country. 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. These statues not only glorify anti-abolitionists but they remind people of the strong racism of the time. Explain your answer with examples and reasoning. History protests Confederate Monuments and Other Disputed Memorials Have Come Down in Cities Across America. The result is that, as a result, the Primera Guerra is no longer averse to it. [10] [11] [12], Washington, Jefferson, and Grant had undeniable ties to slavery. 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. Pros. What do you think? {mosads}George Washington is one example of the traditional standard in action. [23] For example, the Confederate statues in the Capitol building should embody our highest ideals as Americans, expressing who we are and who we aspire to be as a nation. The statue in this state refers to the state constitution or an act of the legislature or initiative or referendum. There are at least two reasons for not permitting contemporaneous vices to disqualify historical figures from favorable commemoration. Confederate statues were the focus of protests in Richmond, Virginia, last summer. A global anti-gender movement is coming for our democracy. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. Many people believe that these statues and monuments are inciting white supremacy and promoting violence. 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. 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. 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. Kelly Grovier, Black Lives Matter Protests: Why Are Statues So Powerful?, bbc.com, June 12, 2020, 26. The concept of La Raza -as* -as* is based on the idea that all latinos are united in EEUU and that they are committed to aquella tradition. What is that extreme? 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. He was also an abolitionist, though a hypocritical and pragmatic one who understood the country would not give up slavery so easily. [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. The campaigns demise was both sad and pathetic. Hannah Natanson, Theres a New Way to Deal with Confederate Monuments: Signs That Explain Their Racist History, washingtonpost.com, Sep. 22, 2019, 53. According to the poll, in August 2017, 39% supported the removal of Confederate statues compared to 52% who wanted to get rid of them in June. So what should be the standard for taking down a statue? Photo courtesy of Getty Images/iStockphoto, (480) 965-9657 Stephen E. Ambrose, Founding Fathers and Slaveholders, smithsonianmag.com, Nov. 2002, 43. I think it dishonors them to celebrate the men who killed them and tried to kill off the American nation. 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. 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. They can be seen as a form of art. Ultimately, as far as who gets to decide, I think activism is what gets it done. 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. Of those who support the idea in the latest poll, 84% . In the United States, Confederate generals were overthrown or voted out. For example, The cost to remove all the monuments and statues in New Orleans could cost $600,000. 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. These are various statues across the US which honor Confederate leaders or "heroes". I think what you see with the Lee monument and this new time capsule is a good example of how we can handle that. 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Interview was edited for clarity and space. Disputation in the political sphere is difficult to come by. In later years, Lee alsodistinguished himself as an educator: As president of the institution that is nowWashington and Lee University, he was largely responsible for fashioning the modern college honor code. Adolph Hitler gets none, although he was kind to dogs. [45] [46] Martin Luther King, Jr. regularly cheated on his wife. 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. She won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for her explosive 2008 work, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family.. There is a plaque next to the Peace Monument in Atlanta, Georgia, that states, This monument should no longer serve as a memorial for white Brotherhood. Remove Confederate statues from public places based on the pros and cons. Jos Vasconcelos and Jos Enrique Rod have been appointed as ambassadors, and they have been actively involved in the work of the United Nations. Monuments to men who advocated cruelty and barbarism to achieve such a plainly racist end are a grotesque affront to these ideals. They are also a reminder of the sacrifices made by those who fought for the Confederacy and a symbol of Southern heritage. Amanda Holpuch, Ed Pilkington, and Oliver Laughland, Charleston Shooting: Confederate Flag at Heart of Growing Political Storm, theguardian.com, June 20, 2015, 4. [42], Jefferson is the author of two of our most dear principles as a country: equality and religious freedom. Or a religiously-conservative majority may blacklist outstanding women who in private life opted for legal abortions. They teach us, and it depends on us whether we practice what we learn. One claim for not removing certain statues of people who have committed egregious acts is that we should not treat people of another time as if they were second-rate citizens. Khushbu Shah, Atlanta's Confederate Monuments: How Do Context Markers Help Explain Racism?, theguardian.com, Aug. 3, 2019, 25. They put up monuments to T.J. because of the Declaration of Independence, which every group has used to make their place in American society. Do we protect Confederate graves and battlefields? 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. Make sure to visit the Southern Poverty Law Centers Whose Heritage: Public Symbols of the Confederacy resource. They glorify people who were responsible for terrible things. There are valid arguments on both sides, and there is no easy answer. Catherine Thorbecke, Walmart donates $100K to replace Arkansas' Confederate-linked statues at the US Capitol, abcnew.go.com, July 7, 2020, 32. 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. Venezuelas mezcla is characterized by a lack of eclecticism, as well as a widespread, general sense of izquierda. It was an event that forced segregationists to come down rather than a single persons actions. 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. George Gerbner, PhD, and Larry Gross coined the term symbolic annihilation in 1976 to describe the lack of representation of a group of people. GAZETTE: Many believe that taking the statues down is an attempt to cover up or erase history. Michelangelos David is not only a statue of a man, but also a statue of God. The Onion looks at the pros and cons of removing historical statues. Should Statues Be Removed Pros And Cons - Stay informed with breaking news, in-depth analysis and community coverage. Debate around the removal of memorials and monuments that honor people and ideas whose messages and causes are considered offensive to certain marginalized groups has been a hot-button issue of late in the national conversation. 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. I think on these two, Washington and Jefferson, in particular, you take the bitter with sweet. Confederate monuments were put up in response to Blacks getting more rights, as a kind of a backlash. GREENE: Professor, thank you so much for your time. Consider the idea of placing the removed statues in museums with the American Alliance of Museums. And dont forgetthe Confederacy lost. [31], In Louisville, a statue of Confederate soldier John Breckinridge Castleman was removed. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. Here are some top contenders, Stupendous vision, energy, competence, and courage. Claudette Colvin was a member of the Womens Missionary Union before Rosa Parks was born. Should Statues Of Historic Figures With Complicated Pasts Be - NPR Who Jefferson Davis was. Like, FDR, after all, was responsible for the internment of Japanese American citizens. 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'. While most Americans watch helplessly, ourstateside Taliban vandalizes and removeslong-standing public monuments. Go toProCon.orgto learn more. Below are the proper citations for this page according to four style manuals (in alphabetical order): the Modern Language Association Style Manual (MLA), the Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago), the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), and Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Turabian). Gary Younge is a professor of sociology at the University of Manchester. Its a pleasure to be a part of the politics of Los diferentes estrellas de la Avenida. So for instance, a lot of the sort of backlash against taking down Confederate statues was precisely this. Activists are campaigning for a statue of Cecil Rhodes to be removed from an Oxford college. GREENE: Historian Manisha Sinha is the author of "The Slave's Cause: A History Of Abolition.". Mississippis secession declaration states, Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery the greatest material interest of the world. Historian puts the push to remove Confederate statues in context 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. 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. Citizens have the right to express themselves in ways that respect their personal beliefs by creating statues and holding controversial opinions. 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. The statues can be kept without glorifying what they once stood for. This article was published on January 20, 2022, at Britannica's ProCon.org, a nonpartisan issue-information source. Tomas Strakas Vida Poltica de las Estatuas is a collection of essays. Federal judge rules Pennsylvania school district must allow After School Satan Facebook privacy settlement: Who is eligible for a payment? Should Statues Be Removed and Destroyed? | Guest Contributor - Politics Red There are lots of terrible. The statues in major British cities are being reviewed. Evan Andrews, How Many U.S. Presidents Owned Enslaved People?, history.com, Sep. 3, 2019, 45. George Martin, Why Confederate Monuments Should Be Preserved and Honored, charlotteobserver.com, July 6, 2017, 38. Research reveals the long-term impact following the destruction of the Greenwood District, Harvard experts talk about how to turn the moments energy into lasting change, Harvard faculty recommend the writers and subjects that promote context and understanding, Ash Center panel puts defining moment of Floyd killing into context of fight for social justice, Biomolecular archaeology reveals a fuller picture of the nomadic Xiongnu. 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. Ashlie D. Stevens, As Confederate Monuments Come down, What Should Replace Them?, salon.com, June 17, 2020, 27. What do you think of that idea? Dreamers and DACA supporters rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court. Thus, we honor Columbus by monuments, place names, and a federal holiday. Is there a higher moral cause that supersedes the law? [14] [17]. Arguments For And Against Removing Confederate Statues - Ranker 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. The removal of Confederate statues is a painful reminder of the countrys racist past and present. The removal in recent years of several monuments depicting Confederate leaders and other controversial historical figures by both politicians and unsanctioned activists have generated debate over whether their removal is justified. The statues represent the countrys history, no matter how complicated. A statue of Josphine de Beauharnais, who married Napoleon and became his first wife, was ripped down in Martinique. And I also grew up hearing stories from my family or reading in archives the terrible things those men did to my people.. Public Symbols of the Confederacy, splcenter.org, Feb. 1, 2019, 15. 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. They can be offensive and hurtful to certain groups of people. 2. And that was simply not correct. GORDON-REED: Ha! Senior Editor at Arc Digital. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. Statues elevate a person from a historical event rather than demystify it. 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? Q: How do we decide what stays and what goes? Ive said it before: There is an important difference between helping to create the United States and trying to destroy it. From a religious/Christian. https://www.britannica.com/story/pro-and-con-historic-statue-removal-in-the-united-states, According to theSouthern Poverty Law Center. On October 12, 2006, a bust of Almirante was smashed in Mrida, Mexico, in the aftermath of the Columbus statues being torn down. Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 30, 2020, 35. Their actions also took a violent turn, as when revolutionaries murdered bishops and priests who refused to sign a loyalty oath. That if monuments embody community values, then it should be a community decision. emma.greguska@asu.edu. But thats incredibly problematic. Removing statues is a slippery slope that could lead to the brash removal of monuments to any slightly problematic person. They are both excellent candidates for the kind of contextualization you alluded to. A statue of George Washington in Caracas, Venezuela, was damaged during an attack by a bomb in 2008. If we disqualified all figures because we now reject their societys practices, we would commemorate few people indeed, and we would deprive ourselves of many sources of inspiration. Since this fundamentally conflicts with American values and ideas, they should be removed. Symbolic annihilation can result in society valuing groups of people less and in internalized negativity among those groups. 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. 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. GREENE: You said something interesting. 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? The issue rose to prominence again in 2017 after an Aug. 12 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned violent and deadly. Here are the proper bibliographic citations for this page according to four style manuals (in alphabetical order): [Editor's Note: The APA citation style requires double spacing within entries. It is unfortunate that they are considered public art works rather than memorializing them. Top photo: The base of the Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond, Virginia, after his statue was removed from atop it. What you got in the interim before that happened was a kind of a battle over community values. 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. Slavery is represented in statues by people who distort history and commemorate individuals who perpetuated it. Who Was He?, cnn.com, June 11, 2020, 7. Lee was distinguished from his contemporaries by an exemplary career, both in the U.S. and Confederate armies, of competence and honor. Statues play a critical role in society. 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. 2. Photograph: Schalk van Zuydam/AP A similar story can be told in the southern states of the US. 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 . The U.S. Recycling System | US EPA 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Monuments of Hope, Memorials to a Poisoned Past, britannica.com, May 25, 2018, 23. The history of destroying monuments shows the dangers of tearing them down. A statue must be erected on land that is yours and have the authority to do so. There are many other people who deserve statues that better represent the countrys historical progress and diversity. Take away anything that smacks of the sort of imperialist legacy which clearly that statue embodies. It does not disqualify him that he selected a husband for his daughter rather than allowing her to select one for herself. The definition of a statue includes a work of art that represents something as well. [44] Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and the white suffragists purposefully excluded black women. Explore the Southern Poverty Law Centers Whose Heritage: Public Symbols of the Confederacy resource, which promotes the removal of confederate statues. The statues do not cause racism and could be used to fight racism if put into historical context. The line is subjective, difficult to draw, and easy to reinterpret, leaving no memorial protected. Managing Editor These battles have a strong historical context, as they were influenced by a very Venezuelan tradition: Bolivarian political historicism. Confederate monuments, in our society, are an artifact from an era gone wrong. Pros And Cons Of Removing Historical Statues - The Onion Why every single statue should come down - The Guardian East Grinstead Observer Archives, Articles S
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