opinions on confederate monuments
: Kathy Griffin). They recast Confederate soldiers as heroes fighting not for the institution of slavery but for the “Lost Cause,” the mythology of the Confederacy as a grand patriarchal civilization. A North Carolina law passed in 2015 prohibits the removal of these monuments, yet the prospect of being prosecuted for doing just that was not a deterrent. Whites (66 percent), Republicans (84 percent) and Americans over age 65 (71 percent) are especially likely to say that Confederate monuments represent pride rather than supremacy. What I fear is the hatred we are seeing in real time in 2017 on social media, on our college campuses, in our workplaces and in our political rhetoric (i.e. Of Speech. Photo by James Milliken. Mount Vernon has done something similar with its new slave exhibit as of last year. America is different because we value freedom. Freedom to worship as we believe. Are they an accurate representation of what our American people have gone through? Share on Facebook. Confederate monuments don't preserve "our history," like some falsely argue. Support for removing Confederate statues is heavily split by party, based on the poll. “A great nation does not hide its history, it faces its flaws and corrects them.”—President George W. Bush, Opening of the NMAAHC, September 24, 2016. Lee's underlying rationale behind opposing the … And … For the most part, protesters are taking down confederate monuments because civic leaders have failed to do so proactively. People, including a man wearing a confederate flag, hug after taking part in a prayer circle after a Black Lives Matter protest following the multiple police shootings in Dallas, Texas, on July 10, 2016. White elites showed their thanks by erecting Confederate monuments. That, my friends, is what we must work toward eradicating. We endured. ... One of at least 18 confederate monuments on public property throughout Arkansas, the two-story pedestal and Confederate soldier statue on the courthouse lawn was erected in 1903 by the Varina Jefferson Davis Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Confederate monuments have always been symbols of white supremacy. More familiar than the Lee monument in Charlottesville is the one on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va. Less familiar is the monument to Lee in the United States Capitol. They harbored cultural bias. Opinions were less clear about whether the monuments glorify for what the Confederacy fought for, with 49 percent saying they agree with that, 29 percent saying they disagree, and 22 percent saying they neither agree … In July 2015 when former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, now UN Ambassador Haley, ordered confederate flags down after the horrific shootings of nine black church members in the historic AME church in downtown Charleston, she was 100% correct. We look. Jefferson Davis still stands in Richmond. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. They were placed there by locals and the local community will decide whether to move them. Aug 18, 2020 0. Is Removing Confederate Monuments Like Erasing History. Confederate “heritage,” as a unifying theme for the white South, also obscures the way that white elites use the white working class to do their bidding by pitting them against those with whom they have more in common economically than those in power. This is the real tragedy … not that protesters are tearing down statues, but that for years our country’s leaders have not had the courage to what is right — take down all monuments linked to the inherent white supremacy of the confederate cause. They didn’t like having black classmates because they had racist hearts. What I fear is the hatred we see in real time in 2017 on social media and in our political rhetoric. We do not learn when we run from our wrongs. The heyday of monument building, between 1890 and 1920, was also a time of extreme racial violence, as Southern whites pushed back against what little progress had been made by African-Americans in the decades after the Civil War. Many of the monuments celebrate figures like Lee, who even today is defended as a critic of slavery who only grudgingly joined the Confederacy. Confederate monuments have always been symbols of white supremacy. You have to want it, work at it, and trust that it ultimately works for us all. OPINION: The Confederate Monuments. Should the confederate monuments be torn down? Today, the battle for white male supremacy has expanded in scope. Once again, we’re having a national debate about the hundreds of Confederate monuments that stand across the South — inspired, this time, by last weekend’s march in Charlottesville, Va., when white supremacists protested the city’s plan to move a statue of Robert E. Lee. The path for the rise of the Southern Democratic Party, known as the “White Man’s Party,” was paved with racial violence. San Angelo. Remembering, forces us to become wiser. All Confederate monuments echo the same evil purpose of perpetuating slavery, thereby rendering their inscribed honors as hollow. On the question of erecting Civil War monuments, the former Confederate general wrote that he thought it … Sophia A. Nelson, Esq., is the award-winning author of three non-fiction books and a "Corporate Diversity Champion" (2012) award winner for her work in corporate diversity strategies and training for the Fortune 100. Opinion: Don't Take Down Confederate Monuments. The words "Black Lives Matter" spray painted on a monument to former Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond, Va. June 25, 2015. grand opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, powerful words and sentiments expressed by Mayor Landrieu, why he thinks Confederate statutes and symbols should come down, Full Interview: Mitch Landrieu on Removing Confederate Monuments, now UN Ambassador Haley, ordered confederate flags, as tens of thousands of them marched together, Opinion: Racial Hate Is Infecting College Kids in America, Protesters Denounce 'White Supremacist' Torchlit Rally at Robert E. Lee Statue. “This week, it is Robert E. Lee. While what happened in Charlottesville is a stain on our nation, we should remain hopeful for the future. And now only 44% of us support keeping Confederate monuments against a growing 32% who want to take ‘em down. They instrumentalize the past to maintain a nostalgia for a white ethnostate in the public space. Some of my fellow historians have naïvely suggested that we need to keep them to teach us the darker lessons of Southern history. It is also homophobic. Charlotte, N.C. — Activists in Durham, N.C., tired of waiting for local leaders to decide what to do about a statue of a Confederate soldier downtown, on Monday literally took matters into their own hands, yanking it off its pedestal and then kicking it, as if trying to beat it into submission. Opinion Interpretation of the news based on evidence, including data, as well as anticipating how events might unfold based on past events Debating the Confederate monuments Add to list Opinions Live with Eugene Robinson: Remove all Confederate monuments Jun 23, 2020 Columnist Eugene Robinson will be online every Tuesday at 1 p.m. Eastern for Eugene Robinson Live, where he'll talk about the latest political and cultural developments. Of celebration. By. Workers prepare to take down a Jefferson Davis statue in New Orleans early on Thursday. Let me be clear: I felt very differently about the Confederate flag because it was a waving symbol of hate, rebellion and division flying over modern day state capitols throughout the south. This does not bode well for their cause. 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 think it reflects the great first amendment freedoms America was founded upon. “Dismantling Confederate monuments and ridding sports teams and brands of racist imagery is not enough,” Marcos Martinez, the owner of the blog, www.themenwhobrunch.com, wrote in an email. Free expression. But our white classmates were as outraged as us, and the Dean reacted swiftly and firmly to handle the perpetrators. Lt. Col. Allen West warned Saturday that those Americans toppling Confederate statues or defacing infamous historic symbols were missing the point of that time in U.S. history. Montpelier has a series called The Mere Distinction of Colour, a provocative new exhibition examining the institution of slavery and its legacy. Related: Is Removing Confederate Monuments Like Erasing History? Get my point? However, I am not opposed to people wearing the confederate flag on their hats or flying it in their yards. He’s a white Southerner and the mayor of New Orleans. That’s called “free expression” and in America it is sacrosanct. This isn’t just a Southern problem. Guest Editorial - December 1, 2019. Keep Confederate monuments, but put their horrific history on center stage While Trump is far from right, he is not totally wrong. Freedom to speak our minds without terrorizing or harassing others (hate speech is not free speech as defined by the US Supreme Court). I noticed that Stonewall Jackson is coming down,” he told a news conference. White supremacists aren’t the only defenders of these monuments. It wasn’t because of a Gen. 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