My answer is “no,” a firm “no.”. Introduction 2017, white supremacist protestors marched in Charlottesville, Virginia On August 21st purportedly to protest the city's planned removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. ], [Editor’s Note: The MLA citation style requires double spacing within entries. There are a slew of figures in London from the same period - all involved in some way in slavery - whose statues are still standing. The injustice of the past—ancient, medieval, and modern history—has been updated to the current social and political conditions of society. I survived the air raids on Cologne as a teenager.". Oliver Cromwell is credited by many with being a key figure in the development of Western democracy. John Chrysostom’s sermons and Libanius’s speech about the removal of pagan statues by monks in the fourth century tells us about the fall of the ancient world and the beginning of a new society, that is, the “Christian society.” And the French Revolution, with its radical opposition to tradition, tells us about the beginning of a new worldview that, in the name of justice, destroyed everything that had seemed suspicious and perceived as an opposition. Removing statues is a recourse with a long history. Zelensky urges speedy delivery of Western tanks, Taliban to set new rules on women's aid work, UN says, Google announces sweeping Android changes in India, Buying concert tickets can be hell. Latisha Jensen, “Portland Man Describes Tearing Down Thomas Jefferson Statue: ‘It’s Not Vandalism,’” wweek.com, June 20, 2020, 12. That does not negate the parts they played. But he was also a key philanthropist in the city - which was a major hub for the wider trade around slavery - and is remembered with a statue and an annual day of celebration. The statue was defaced, there was a lot of graffiti that dealt with defunding the police, and there are some incredibly powerful images that were taken during that time, some of which are going into the new time capsule. Symbolic annihilation can result in society valuing groups of people less and in internalized negativity among those groups. Scottie Andrew and Anna Sturla, “A Statue of Frederick Douglass Was Toppled over the Fourth of July Weekend, the Anniversary of His Famous Speech,” cnn.com, July 6, 2020, 10. This can be very dangerous if too much blood is lost or the bleeding cannot be stopped. It is also important to remember there is a difference between removing the statues and destroying them. More generally, arguments over statues are always about the present and not the past. Now there is intense controversy over whether the statue should be removed. Another statue of Cook in Cairns, Australia, is also the subject of fierce debate. “Basically any time a new government or regime or religion comes in, stuff gets torn down, temples get sacked. ], ProCon.org, "Historic Statue Removal – Top 3 Pros & Cons,", ProCon.org, "Historic Statue Removal – Top 3 Pros & Cons. The monuments which represent white supremacy, violence, and hatred should be removed. Greta Anderson, “When Free Speech and Racist Speech Collide,” insidehighered.com, June 23, 2020, 36. Keep reading for all the pros and cons of removing Confederate statues. They are not works of art. The majority of artefacts are 100% 'legal'. As a student at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, Arizona State University English Professor Natalie Diaz remembers seeing the Robert E. Lee monument every time her basketball team traveled to play the University of Richmond Spiders. [32]. Ted Mann, “Lincoln Statue With Kneeling Black Man Becomes Target of Protests,” wsj.com, June 25, 2020, 14. 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 fight—and 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. Residents offered replacement suggestions ranging from boxer Muhammed Ali to writer Wendell Berry. The 17th Century businessman and MP was a key figure in the Royal African Company and the transport of many thousands of slaves. 5. And there is an argument that removing statues has the potential to harm our understanding of history. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox. 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. While the statues of Rhodes may be disappearing from South Africa, the giant Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria has remained and - despite its background of Afrikaner nationalism being associated with the later rise of apartheid - been tolerated as a slice of history and an opportunity to discuss the wrongs as well as the rights of bygone eras. Public Symbols of the Confederacy,” splcenter.org, Feb. 1, 2019, 15. Removing Confederate monuments is not "removing history." It is removing a dishonorable cause from a place of honor. The recovery from having your tonsils removed is pretty lengthy, and can be quite painful as well. Rhodes's statue stands on the building named after him at Oriel College, Oxford, Students at the University of Cape Town celebrate the removal of Cecil Rhodes's statue in April, Jefferson Davis's statue was removed from the University of Texas-Austin in August 2015, The controversial statue of Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris in central London, Oliver Cromwell's statue outside Parliament was put up with private money, The Voortrekker monument in Pretoria, South Africa. They teach us, and it depends on us whether we practice what we learn. Dresser suggests there is another way for more recent statues to be handled. Its removal came after a long battle that even included a 2019 lawsuit by a . "It's better on the whole to keep the statues but to recontextualise them.". In Belgium, demonstrators burned and defaced several statues and monuments to King Leopold II, who ruled the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908, treating it as his personal property and committing atrocities against its people.During his rule, the country's population declined by between 5 and 10 million people. In fact, His silence before his oppressors is remarkable and a model for us to follow. The follow-up is essential. [4], Monuments are ultimately about which values we want to honor and put on public display. The idea is, this is a statue of a civil leader, and they are someone whose virtue or deeds we’re meant to emulate as citizens. It’s also important to distinguish statues from records of history, because that’s not what they’re about. Ellis Cose, “Keep Confederate Monuments, but Put Their Horrific History on Center Stage,” usatoday, Aug. 21, 2017, 52. The question is, is the removal of statues, violence, and the acts of vandalism the positive signs of a new era of progress and justice? Juan De Anda, “Why Representation Matters Now,” mediapost.com, April 21, 2020, 28. List two to three ways. Khushbu Shah, “Atlanta's Confederate Monuments: How Do ‘Context Markers’ Help Explain Racism?,” theguardian.com, Aug. 3, 2019, 25. Linda Lopata, “If Susan B. Anthony Was Racist,” susanb.org (accessed July 7, 2020), 47. The rally protested the proposed removal of statues of Confederate Army Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. [10] [11] [12], Washington, Jefferson, and Grant had undeniable ties to slavery. This is why they put them up in the first place; to affirm the centrality of white supremacy to Southern culture.” [1], Because the statues were intended to promote white supremacy, Richard Rose, President of Atlanta’s NAACP, argues, “You can’t contextualize racism or compromise on racism.” He states that the contextualization plaques added to Atlanta’s Confederate statues “establish that racism is valid.” [24], The statues still appeal to white supremacists, as demonstrated by the 2017 rally to defend the Lee and Jackson statues in Virginia and in Dylan Roof’s 2015 pre-massacre tour of plantations and a Confederate museum. The removal of statues tells us about ourselves, about our hatred and undomesticated impulses, and about our inability to enact change without causing anarchy and discontent. Statues of Lenin have been toppled in many countries that have rejected communism, but last year in in some cities in eastern Ukraine, pro-Russian protesters rushed to protect statues at risk of being torn down. The political and religious life in America is so heavily loaded with questionable actions and attitudes that it risks generating more chaos and instability. Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. Should Historic Statues Be Taken Down? But it doesn't follow that rioting and vandalism are the right way to do it. 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. Natalie Huet, “Sir Geoff Palmer, ‘Don’t Take down Statues - Take down Racism,’” euronews.com, June 11, 2020, 54. A century later a group of MPs campaigned to have it melted down. 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 We should let them stand and use them to remind ourselves of what we are and are not, the cost our forebears paid for our freedom and to educate our children.” [38], During the protests following the death of George Floyd in the summer of 2020, many Confederate statues were damaged or toppled, as were statues of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Ulysses S. Grant. 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. This article was published on January 20, 2022, at Britannica's ProCon.org, a nonpartisan issue-information source. When 11 Southern states seceded from the Union in 1861, they were very clear that the reason was the impending abolition of slavery. [56], When 11 Southern states seceded from the Union in 1861, they were very clear that the reason was the impending abolition of slavery. All rights reserved. procon@eb.com, © 2022 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. The “gold” and bravery of history is almost always mixed with questionable acts morally. 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. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? Hannah Natanson, “There’s a New Way to Deal with Confederate Monuments: Signs That Explain Their Racist History,” washingtonpost.com, Sep. 22, 2019, 53. Annie Grayer and Clare Foran, "Statue Honoring Mary McLeod Bethune Unveiled in Statuary Hall in US Capitol,". All the No points: We are obliged to protect the artefact. From a religious/Christian. On July 13, 2022, Florida erected a statue of Mary McLeod Bethune to replace their confederate soldier statue. This time also coincided with the creation of many Confederate monuments, though they were coming from a different set of concerns. They can be kept in museums with proper historical context rather than on a plinth to be admired. Note: Responses have been edited for length and clarity. The removal of statues leads us to think of radical changes. If so, how? 41: 18.30%: Don't take it down, it's a part of the history of New Orleans. People do not venerate or worship historical statues. 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. I also think it gives credence to the kind of exclusionary work that they already perform. The US is undergoing a cultural battle over symbols of the Confederate era that has seen a statue of Jefferson Davis removed from the University of Texas-Austin. This article was published on January 20, 2022, at Britannica’s ProCon.org, a nonpartisan issue-information source. Since the statues and properties are not intrinsically bad, we do not remove and destroy them. Gavril Andreicut Ph.D. is a Romanian recently naturalized in the U.S. According to the bipartisan Telecommunications Act of 1996, "the Internet and other interactive computer services have flourished, to the benefit of all Americans, with a minimum of government regulation," and it should be the policy of the United States "to preserve the vibrant and competitive free market… for the Internet and other interactive … Still, that role is not dismissed by the removal of his statue. Also removed from the monument’s base was a 133-year-old copper time capsule containing artifacts and ephemera related to the Confederacy. Sustained and silent protests could be a more powerful and effective form of protest because they expose the oppressive system in a peaceful and loving way. Sophia A. Nelson, “Opinion: Don't Take Down Confederate Monuments. You can't hide. A mob of Bristolians has toppled the statue of one of their city's founding fathers, Saddam-style, and lobbed the poor fellow into the docks. “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, who was born and raised in the Fort Mojave Indian Village in Needles, California. Confederates died defending slavery as an institution. History teaches us that it is an unrealistic view, considering that we live in a world with different people and values. 3. The reason for that was a movement called City Beautiful. [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. Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Any real change comes from inside, which then changes the environment around it. It started in the 1890s with the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. But that would be a very selective and biased act since most history is tainted with injustice and discrimination. Source: Abdazizar. Let’s talk about the history of these statues. ", ProCon.org. One letter writer to the Times said: "We need not be proud of a man who, for all his professional skill and dedication, committed the force to acts of destruction devoid of direct military value, of which people of humane and Christian sentiments have long been bitterly ashamed. 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. The movement spread to other universities in South Africa and has now arrived in Oxford, where Oriel College is under pressure to take down a statue marking Rhodes's large financial contribution. Two statues - one of Jefferson Davis and one of former President Woodrow Wilson - were removed in 2015 following the Charleston church shooting. "I do also take the point that if you look at many of the people celebrated in statues, they have been responsible for death and destruction," says Dresser. Bethune’s is the first state-commissioned statue of a Black person to be included in Statuary Hall. View Poll Results: What should happen to the statue of General Lee? Becky Little, “How the Cult of Robert E. Lee Was Born,” history.com, Aug. 14, 2017, 18. In doing so, many will not have the reminder of the tragedy that was the Civil War. The majority (62 percent) of America 's reader sample told us. What purpose do they serve in society? Mount Vernon, “Slavery,” mountvernon.org (accessed July 7, 2020), 40. A . "The statue represents what is wrong with society." Colleen Walsh, “Must We Allow Symbols of Racism on Public Land?,” harvard.edu, June 19, 2020, 44. We’re trying to let the government know we’re 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.
should statues be removed pros and cons