confederate statues should not be taken down

If we tear down a statue of Robert E. Just one. Virginia's capital, Richmond, became a battleground in the monument debate after Gov. At the Saratoga National Historical Park in New York, there is a curious sculpture, dating to 1887, whose defining feature is a boot. What is your response to that? In several cities, these tributes have been vandalized or torn down by protestors or removed by public officials. A second fundamental distinction is being elided all too often during this debate: The American Revolution and the Founding Fathers are not the same as the Civil War and the Confederates. He wasn't sending an errant tweet. Trump’s defense of racially divisive statues in the throes of a global pandemic, a failed governmental response to the crisis and high unemployment works only because we don’t know our own history well (and according to the president, we’ll know it even less once monuments, with their 10 or so lines of background information, disappear). He wasn't, as many have said of President Donald Trump, to be taken literally not seriously. Their accomplishment began and ended with fighting to own people whom they could exploit and abuse at their discretion. O n July 1, Richmond, Va.’s, monument to Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson — which had towered above the city’s Monuments Avenue since 1919 — was taken down from its pedestal. Some protesters have taken action to tear them down themselves. The vast majority of Confederates will be forgotten because they made no major, lasting contributions to human society. The administration has not been known for promoting education — historical or otherwise — but perhaps Trump’s proposal for a “National Garden of American Heroes,” featuring figures ranging from John Adams to Frederick Douglass to Amelia Earhart to Antonin Scalia isn’t as far off the mark as it appears. The president and others have questioned whether the tearing down of Confederate statues is rewriting history. Mayor: London slavery statues should be taken down Leopold reigned over the mass deaths of an estimated 10 million Congolese. Both were Southerners and military men. He “will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations” named for Confederate leaders — including Forts Bragg, Pickett, and Benning. It’s learning from it. Charlottesville covers Confederate statues. Lee married the Washington’s great-granddaughter and inherited some of the enslaved people who had lived at, or been born to people who lived at, Mount Vernon. What is your opinion of Mr. Suber’s perspective? But Washington’s presence would remain everywhere. Take the statues down. CORRECTION: This article originally misquoted an inscription near a statue in Saratoga National Park honoring Benedict Arnold. COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Republican South Carolina legislative leaders are unlikely to give permission this year to local governments or colleges who want to take down Confederate statues or rename buildings honoring segregationists.A state law passed in 2000 when lawmakers removed the Confederate flag from atop the Statehouse dome requires a two-thirds vote of the General This is a time when there is an intensified movement – particularly at America’s colleges and universities – to remove statues and names from buildings or organizations that pay homage to Confederate leaders and others with racist views. Should they remain? And consider their relationship to slavery. ... -grandson of Jackson has said he believes monuments to his famous ancestor were built as symbols of white supremacy and should be taken down. New Orleans police officers guarding a statue of Jefferson Davis, which the city plans to remove soon. Yes, take down the Confederate statues. It was not just in the United States that statues that symbolized racism were taken down. It was an obvious call to make, and anyone who objected would have likely been suspected of treason themselves. Although I agree with the powerful words and sentiments expressed by Mayor Landrieu of New Orleans last week about why he thinks Confederate statutes and symbols should come down, I do not … Should there be? All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public. Elected officials in some states have promised to bring down Confederate monuments. The statues were taken down before dawn on Aug. 16. Why or why not? The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. In contrast, Confederates like Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson had a purely negative agenda: Had their cohorts succeeded in their goal to end the union in the 19th century, the United States of America would have been destroyed, for the purpose of establishing a new nation with slavery at its core. An educational team would offer tours to schools and visitors, and training to teachers. Tempers Flare Over Removal of Confederate Statues in New Orleans. A crucial test, when we consider which monuments ought to be taken down, is to ask a simple question: Will these people continue to exist elsewhere, historically speaking? Students 13 and older are invited to comment. The inscription says that he was “desperately wounded" at Saratoga, not “fatally wounded.”. “Where does it stop?” Trump has asked — a version of the slippery slope argument — and he has tweeted he had “authorized the Federal Government to arrest anyone who vandalizes or destroys any monument … with up to 10 years in prison.”. If his statues go down, Lee will still exist in books about the Civil War. — What about Mr. Stewart’s perspective? 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. What if, rather than standing Trump’s random statues forlornly in a “garden,” we instead placed the monuments that have been removed in recent weeks and years, whether by protesters or by cities, in a newly established museum. He’d still be on the quarter and the dollar bill. — What fear does Charles Washmon say he has regarding the possible removal of the statues? Confederate Statues Come Down Around U.S., But Not Everywhere Though George Floyd's death renewed calls to remove Confederate monuments, some cities formally decided to protect them. Students: Read the entire article, then tell us: — What do you think about the Confederate monuments that stand in New Orleans? Louisville, Kentucky, took down its John B. Castleman Monument on Monday, which the mayor there said will likely be moved to the Confederate officer’s private grave. Instead of just taking them down, Mr. Suber, an African-American activist and organizer, would like to see the city pass out sledgehammers and “let everybody take a whack — just like the Berlin Wall.”. He created the Cabinet and a decided to step down after two terms — a precedent followed by every other president until Franklin Roosevelt. Those new poll numbers land smack dab in the middle of an ongoing debate -- in the nation's capitol and in states around the country -- about whether these statues need to be taken down. He was saying he'd rather die than give up his slaves. Outreach might include an exhibition that traveled to other museums throughout the country — which in turn might prompt meaningful national discourse. But President Trump appears willfully confused and frankly unpatriotic when it comes to these distinctions. Should Confederate Statues Be Taken Down? There’s no evidence of debate around the issue, at least none at the Washington presidential papers at the University of Virginia. Destroying Confederate monuments isn’t ‘erasing’ history. At least nine bills altering or eliminating the Heritage Act have been filed before the 2021 General Assembly session starts Tuesday. Washington, John Adams Thomas Jefferson and their cohorts waged a war to found the union, one whose deep flaws were in tension with its highest ideals. Virginia Gov Ralph Northam on Thursday ordere… I talk about the controversy of Confederate statues and memorials. Washington’s story is inextricably bound up with that of the early nation. Replace them with any of these people. ... South Carolina, in 2015, more than 100 Confederate monuments across America were taken down over the … Right now, it’s just a grab bag of American history stuffed with an assortment of mostly white and some black people, but these funds could be used for something far more meaningful. — What do you think is the best solution to this conflict? In “Tempers Flare Over Removal of Confederate Statues in New Orleans,” Richard Fausset writes: NEW ORLEANS — For Malcolm Suber, the Confederate monuments that dot this Deep South city stand for white supremacy, pure and simple. Bill Tiernan/The Virginian-Pilot. He signed important treaties and legislation we now see as laudable — helping, for example, to create the First Bank of the United States, — and immoral, like the first Fugitive Slave Act. Should Confederate Statues Be Removed or Remain in Place? Memorialize racism Puts slavery on a pedestal Serves as warning for POC Tells white nationalist they will be honored By:Gracie Speer Conclusion Rebuttal Doesn't mean it's good So your proud of your racist ancestry? But the founders are different. In The Conversation, education professor Christian Anderson examines the question of what – if anything – should be put up in their place. No Confederate statues were removed in South Carolina. Why not take them down? The statues on the Confederate monument are covered in graffiti and beheaded after a protest in Portsmouth, Va., Wednesday, June 10, 2020. He dominates the stories our textbooks tell about the founding era not just because he triumphed militarily against the British, but also because of his political accomplishments. Do you think it is apt to compare the statues to the Roman Colosseum and the pyramids of Egypt? That dialogue would have to include an honest look at the parallels and connections between Washington and Robert E. Lee — including family connections. But consider their contrasting conduct as generals: Washington waged a war to found a flawed democracy, and Lee waged a rebellion against that flawed democracy, to expand and extend slavery. Arnold’s enduring place in historical memory should reassure Americans who fear removing the names and monuments of historically significant people from public spaces will “erase” them from history. House speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for 11 Confederate statues to be taken down in the US Capitol, amid a growing campaign across the country to remove symbols of the Confederacy. They are dedicated to the men of the Confederate States. Such are the irreconcilable parameters of an ugly battle over race and history in New Orleans that seems to only be growing uglier, one that demonstrates the Confederacy’s enduring power to divide Americans more than 150 years after the cause was lost. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, Discussion of news topics with a point of view, including narratives by individuals regarding their own experiences, You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington. Should Statues Of Historic Figures With Complicated Pasts Be Taken Down? The man represented by the boot, and whose statue is “missing” — its absence is part of the design of the obelisk, built over several decades and dedicated in 1912 — has hardly been forgotten. He also put Congolese people into a human zoo in Belgium. Two … They can take comfort in knowing that the founders set a clear example for public memorialization of people who had betrayed their country, too — helpful context for the debate that erupted after President Trump announced he would veto the annual defense bill if it included an amendment to rename military bases honoring Confederate leaders. The left. In such a case we might be able to honestly say that, yes, indeed, we can actually learn something from monuments. The vast majority of statue removals have been institutional or governmental, but as some protesters have expanded their targets to include the founders, the media focused on crowds tearing down statutes of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in Portland, Ore. A descendant of Jefferson wrote that while the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., may be marketed “as a shrine to freedom, it is anything but” — and it’s time for it to go. CONFEDERATE statues and monuments honoring slave traders are being taken down amid worldwide anti-racism protests spurred by the death of George Floyd. The death of George Floyd is leading to the removal -- by protesters in some cases and city leaders in others -- of contentious statues that have riled some residents for decades, if not longer. Timberlake said there are "roughly 1,848 confederate statues" still standing in the United States. That at least has been the reaction in Austin, North Carolina, Kentucky, Maryland, Florida, Missouri, Wisconsin and New York. “I ask you, Mitch, should the Pyramids in Egypt be destroyed since they were built entirely from slave labor?” he wrote. Washington made the personal decision to pave the road to freedom, in his will, for the people he enslaved, while Lee had no choice in the matter. The succession caused the … See where they're being taken down across the U.S. From monuments to murals and statues to flags, memorials of all types are being removed across … If the statues are not taken down, should new historical context be added so people viewing the statues can learn from the past? There they would be displayed alongside labels and panel texts offering context crafted by experts, drawing on documentary evidence found in archives. 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