should statues be removed pros and cons

Was there no other way to handle that situation? According to Richard Rose, President of Atlantas NAACP, there can be no contextual or commutational discussion of racism because the statues were intended to promote white supremacy. Conocie una fugacidad de las personas y conocie una inscripcin hablada de un poder. We shouldn't shy from the fact that many of these men were slave owners, but we should also be able to judge each case individually. Protesters next to a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va. Confederate monuments are more likely to be removed in cities with large African-American and Democratic populations, as well as chapters of the NAACP, and where state legislatures have the authority to approve their removal. Monuments of people statuary I think come out of a tradition of imitation. 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. They didnt like having black classmates because they had racist hearts. 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? Greta Anderson, When Free Speech and Racist Speech Collide, insidehighered.com, June 23, 2020, 36. They represent the establishments value system at any given time, regardless of the circumstances. Tension over statues has arisen within the recent Black Lives Matter protests. Iconoclasm is not new; its been going on for thousands of years in different circumstances, Lamp said. GAZETTE: In the past, people have suggested the monuments should stay, but that additional plaques or other information should be incorporated to add context. PRO: These monuments should be removed because they honor slavery and segregation CON: Confederate monuments should stay because they connect past racial crimes to current racial inequality Nearly every heavy-crane company in southern Louisiana has received threats from opponents. Charisse L'Pree, Racial and Gender Exclusion from Media Affects Novel Group Identity; An Experimental Investigation of Symbolic Annihilation, sites.google.com/site/charisselpree2 (accessed July 8, 2020), 29. But I think whats so interesting about the City Beautiful movement is that it controlled public spaces in a very specific way, and it was ultimately a movement about assimilation, and a movement that came out of a real concern about immigration. The Mdia Exterior de Chvez highlights how the country responds to its problems: through its actions, the country seeks to advance human rights, including the rights of foreigners, as a result of the decreto de 1817. Must we allow symbols of racism on public land? 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? 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. The consensus renders the commemoration process more meaningful and less political than it otherwise would be. Venezuelas mezcla is characterized by a lack of eclecticism, as well as a widespread, general sense of izquierda. Pros. "Historic Statue Removal Top 3 Pros & Cons." Are you. Hecho comn is a part of the Venezuelan Revolution that ended with Hugo Chvezs election as President of the Republic of Venezuela (Y). 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. 4. Stephen E. Ambrose, Founding Fathers and Slaveholders, smithsonianmag.com, Nov. 2002, 43. What do you think of that idea? At the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth, a significant portion of anti-imperialist and Bolivarian thinking was based on those ideas. 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. Natalie Huet, Sir Geoff Palmer, Dont Take down Statues - Take down Racism, euronews.com, June 11, 2020, 54. The statues misrepresent history, and glorify people who perpetuated slavery, attempted secession from United States, and lost the Civil War. The statues in major British cities are being reviewed. Claudette Colvin was a member of the Womens Missionary Union before Rosa Parks was born. Some jurisdictions have placed explanatory plaques beside Confederate monuments to teach a more complete history of the Confederacy. [31], In Louisville, a statue of Confederate soldier John Breckinridge Castleman was removed. ", ProCon.org. 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. This article was published on January 20, 2022, at Britannica's ProCon.org, a nonpartisan issue-information source. The principal legacy of Confederate statues is white supremacy and slavery. A statue of Josphine de Beauharnais, who married Napoleon and became his first wife, was ripped down in Martinique. 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. They must be removed, according to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). So now we've moved into a different phase. The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and the financial fallout, How Black protest may be key to finally ending racial violence, DNA shows poorly understood empire was multiethnic with strong female leadership. NPR Morning Edition, For Stanton, All Women Were Not Created Equal, npr.org, July 13, 2011, 46. A: Thats such a complex issue. Rebecca Klar, Arthur Ashe Statue on Richmond's Monument Avenue Tagged with White Lives Matter Graffiti, thehill.com, June 17, 2020, 50. When we get into Confederate monuments specifically, again, they were purposely put up at times when Blacks were beginning to gain more rights as citizens, and very often, they were erected in public, civic spaces, often on courthouse lawns, specifically to let Black people know that even though, legally, they had more rights, those rights wouldnt be upheld there. [49], Author Sophia A. Nelson, JD, who notes she is the granddaughter of a slave, states that she does not fear 150-year-old statues of old dead white men. Nelson argues that her classmates at Washington & Lee University didnt hate [black students] because there were statues of Robert E. Lee or George Washington (our nations first President and a slave owner) on campus. 5. 746 Words3 Pages. What purpose do they serve in society? On October 12, 2006, a bust of Almirante was smashed in Mrida, Mexico, in the aftermath of the Columbus statues being torn down. Activists are campaigning for a statue of Cecil Rhodes to be removed from an Oxford college. This equates to 1.57 jobs, $76,000 in wages and $14,101 in tax revenues for every 1,000 tons of material recycled. These statues not only glorify anti-abolitionists but they remind people of the strong racism of the time. So to me, if statues are performing this work of showing us what we most value as a society, once our values change, no, we shouldnt keep them. Accessed April 27, 2023. https://www.procon.org/headlines/historic-statue-removal-top-3-pros-cons/, Whose Heritage: Public Symbols of the Confederacy, 1. Instructions for Pros / Cons Paper; Five (5) page essay (2) pages of "pro" and (2) pages of "cons . 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. 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. What are your thoughts on a separate museum for such statues? Southern Poverty Law Center, Whose Heritage? Thus, we honor Columbus by monuments, place names, and a federal holiday. GAZETTE:As a law professor, what is your view on people unilaterally deciding to pull down statues they find offensive after officials often enjoined by laws or judicial rulings barring such action decline to do so? There are valid arguments on both sides, and there is no easy answer. We do not erect monuments to people who performed extraordinary feats that were unquestionably evil, even if their characters included some virtuous traits. Ellis Cose, Keep Confederate Monuments, but Put Their Horrific History on Center Stage, usatoday, Aug. 21, 2017, 52. A copy of the Statue of Liberty was damaged in Valencia, so it was removed from the citys streets. Jeff Kelly Lowenstein, Martin Luther King Jr., Women, and the Possibility of Growth, chicagoreporter.com, Jan. 18, 2019, 48. New Orleans a city of many nations America's largest slave market I got more interested in the U.S. history of monuments when I started to look around and wonder where all the neoclassical buildings came from. Theres nothing to memorialize there, except a history of white supremacy and treason. 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. They are also a reminder of the sacrifices made by those who fought for the Confederacy and a symbol of Southern heritage. Hannah Natanson, Theres a New Way to Deal with Confederate Monuments: Signs That Explain Their Racist History, washingtonpost.com, Sep. 22, 2019, 53. Thats a lot of money for one city to pay for, and that money could be used for more important things. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. It does not disqualify him that he selected a husband for his daughter rather than allowing her to select one for herself. 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. Where do we draw a line? 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. [56], When 11 Southern states seceded from the Union in 1861, they were very clear that the reason was the impending abolition of slavery. As contemporaries, Cecil Rhodes and King Leopold II were both harshly criticized for their racist behaviors. The result is that, as a result, the Primera Guerra is no longer averse to it. Photo courtesy of Getty Images/iStockphoto, (480) 965-9657 There are statues being targeted of people like Ulysses S. Grant, of people like President George Washington, who were not involved in the Confederacy. When activists deface statues, ultimately what theyre doing is forcing the citys hand so that they either have to put money into restoration, which doubles down on whatever message that monument is sending, or they can just remove it. [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. Following the murder of George Floyd, I think we started to see a broader recognition of how statues in civic spaces can exclude certain people. They can be offensive and hurtful to certain groups of people. Several years have passed since the debate over the removal of Confederate statues began. Tomas Strakas Vida Poltica de las Estatuas is a collection of essays. 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. It has also been suggested that statues shouldn't be removed but new plaques could be added which explain why the person is controversial, for example reflecting both the good and bad things. Symbolic annihilation can result in society valuing groups of people less and in internalized negativity among those groups. We see this in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the U.S. Capitol. These figures were not commonly known to be ridden by equestrians. Ultimately, as far as who gets to decide, I think activism is what gets it done. She won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for her explosive 2008 work, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family.. A year after the United States had a diplomatic confrontation with Venezuela, Washington had a diplomatic confrontation with Caracas, and Venezuela had a diplomatic confrontation with Washington. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [54], According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), 59 Confederate statues and nine markers or plaques were removed from public land in 19 US states between June 17, 2015 and July 6, 2020. ONLY FOR REPUBLICANS. Basically any time a new government or regime or religion comes in, stuff gets torn down, temples get sacked. 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. Then youre asking museums to do a lot of work they dont want to do and maybe shouldnt be doing. Q: How do we decide what stays and what goes? There are pros and cons to removing statues. Memorials serve as a permanent reminder of our values, as well as a place to honor and display them in public. You said that moving to statues like George Washington and the Founding Fathers is going from one extreme to another extreme. There are now more than 30 statues and monumental pieces in his honor in the United States. What Should Take Their Place? CBS News, Protesters in England Topple Statue of Slave Trader Edward Colston into Harbor, cbsnews.com, June 7, 2020, 8. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. The statues do not cause racism and could be used to fight racism if put into historical context. The statue in this state refers to the state constitution or an act of the legislature or initiative or referendum. The Straka is spelled with a T. Monument in Madrid, Spain. Those are the real threats to history. There is no path to a peaceful and prosperous country without challenging and rejecting that as a basis for our society. So for instance, I just read today that the Museum of Natural History wants to take down a statue of Theodore Roosevelt that has an African American man and a Native American man standing alongside him while he's astride on a horse. During the globalBlack Lives Matterprotests 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-holdingFounding Fathers in general, as well as historic monuments to Abraham Lincoln and abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass. Also removed from the monuments base was a 133-year-old copper time capsule containing artifacts and ephemera related to the Confederacy. Today progressives vandalize statues of Columbus and Lee, allegedly because of actions motivated by racism. So what do you think of moving into a broader swath of statues coming down and - or being targeted? Confederate monuments, in particular, hold religious, cultural, economic, and political values. [5], The Virginia statues still stood amid the protests following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, though they were tagged with graffiti then (and later removed on July 10, 2021). Nellie Peyton, As the Men of Stone Fall, Who Should Rise up and Take Their Place?, news.trust.org, July 2, 2020, 33. It was an event that forced segregationists to come down rather than a single persons actions. 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. GORDON-REED: Ha! Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. His disreputable actions reflected attitudes and practices common to his society. The architect Daniel Burnham was a leader in the movement; he went on to do the McMillan Plan for the National Mall in D.C. FHA loans have more relaxed credit score requirements than traditional mortgages. These battles have a strong historical context, as they were influenced by a very Venezuelan tradition: Bolivarian political historicism. The First Amendment protects everyones speech, not just the speech approved by the majority. Statues elevate a person from a historical event rather than demystify it. These men who are depicted as heroes fought for the institution of slavery. Who Abraham Lincoln was. On the other hand, others argue that they are offensive and should be removed. GREENE: You said something interesting. She was supposed to be the civil rights movements most visible figure until she became pregnant. According to media reports, at least 11 statues were severely damaged or destroyed during the true civil rebellion in 2017. Should historic statues be taken down? Note: Responses have been edited for length and clarity. But so did tens of thousands of others similarly situated. Disputation in the political sphere is difficult to come by. It would be odd for me to condone other people doing something I would not do. In a 5-4 vote, the court rejected the Trump administration's push to end an Obama-era program that gives nearly 700,000 Dreamers the ability to work in the United States and avoid deportation. The Shepherd monument would not have been returned to the National Park Service if it did not provide interpretive signs and returned it to its rightful owner. These are various statues across the US which honor Confederate leaders or "heroes". When a king dies, his or her statue is also taken down, as are those of their ancestors. 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. Glenn Foster, founder of The Freedom Neighborhood, stated of the Emancipation Memorial, which depicts Lincoln over a kneeling freed slave, When I look at that statue, Im reminded my freedom and my liberation is only dictated by white peoples terms. GORDON-REED: This moment feels different because theres been a great awakening in the country about police-on-citizen violence. The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill, by Rob Natelson, opinion contributor - 09/20/17 7:40 AM ET, First Republic fallout: Democrats fume as regulators bail out yet another failed bank, Yellen says drop-dead date for debt ceiling is June 1, Hunter Biden appears in court for paternity case, Big birds are having fewer chicks as climate changes, AI chatbot outperforms human doctors in responding to patient questions, Bidens plan to address migrant surge may make it worse, Who will replace Tucker Carlson at Fox News? 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The definition of a statue includes a work of art that represents something as well. Statues could be built to honor George Washington Carver, Madame CJ Walker, Shirley Chisholm, Jesse Owens, Gwendolyn Brooks, Ruby Bridges, Mae Jemison, Charles Richard Drew, Mary Jackson, and countless others. In fact, even Robert E. Lee opposed Confederate statues . 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. The Virginia statues still stood amid the protests following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, though they were tagged with graffiti. They glorify people who were responsible for terrible things. Yes, other celebrated Americans were also deeply wrong about slavery, but they aspired to something greater. 3. 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 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. Activism forces a reckoning with what our values are. Defend the existence of confederate statues as ways of honoring the past with the United Daughters of the Confederacy, an organization devoted to the memory of Confederate soldiers. Gordon-Reed is a professor of history and the Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History at Harvard Law School. 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. And I also grew up hearing stories from my family or reading in archives the terrible things those men did to my people.. Ive said it before: There is an important difference between helping to create the United States and trying to destroy it. GREENE: Oh, so actually edit the arrangement of the statues. SINHA: I think then it becomes a purely destructive exercise, a way you are simply destroying all monuments and all statues. 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. It is hard to explain on other than political grounds why so many more monuments and places arededicated to John F. Kennedythan to much better presidents. [4], Monuments are ultimately about which values we want to honor and put on public display. I understand the importance of remembering those who died fighting for both sides of the war. We should be able to discuss these historical figures and discuss what we admire about them and what we don't admire so much. 2. It is also important to remember there is a difference between removing the statues and destroying them. Is there a higher moral cause that supersedes the law? [20] [21] These statues, like their Confederate counterparts, serve a revisionist purpose, allowing people to maintain a racist ideology. Explain your answers. Washington owned over 300, Jefferson over 600, and Grant worked on his wifes family plantation and inherited one slave upon his father-in-laws death. 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. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. 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. Amanda Holpuch, Ed Pilkington, and Oliver Laughland, Charleston Shooting: Confederate Flag at Heart of Growing Political Storm, theguardian.com, June 20, 2015, 4. Should Confederate Monuments Be Removed. 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'. 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. The statues do not cause racism and could be used to fight racism if put into historical context. OK, actually, that makes it easier. For proof, just look at the 1911 dedication of a Jefferson Davis statue in New Orleans. procon@eb.com, 2023 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. There is an issue which has sparked some conflict which is based on the topic of whether or not Confederate Statues and Confederate symbols should be removed due to the background that they represent. I think the problem with that is that the balance of power in communities can be really problematic. Share This: Over 100 busts, statues, columns, and other memorials to the Confederacy and Confederate general and politicians have been removed around the country. Other statues of historic figures, such as slave-owning presidents or imperialists like Christopher Columbus, promote similar oppressive and revisionist messages. Petition Pushes for Parton Statues, arkansasonline.com, June 23, 2020, 30. The statues can be kept without glorifying what they once stood for. Eventually, police descended on the. Valerie Strauss, Christopher Columbus: 3 Things You Think He Did That He Didnt, washingtonpost.com, Oct. 14, 2013, 22. The reason for that was a movement called City Beautiful. 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. Gino Spocchia, Christopher Columbus Statue Torn Down, Set on Fire and Tossed in Lake by Anti-Racism Protesters in Virginia, independent.co.uk, June 10, 2020, 9. This article was published on January 20, 2022, at Britannicas ProCon.org, a nonpartisan issue-information source. I certainly understand the emotion the passion particularly if government officials have turned a blind eye to previous petitions from the community. He freed that slave. Monticello, Jefferson's Attitudes toward Slavery, monticello.org (accessed July 7, 2020), 41. Squares with statues of ostensibly virtuous civil leaders at the center often came out of the City Beautiful movement. History protests Confederate Monuments and Other Disputed Memorials Have Come Down in Cities Across America. The Confederate statues have no redeeming qualities to them, but other statues certainly do.

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