GORDON-REED: Plaques can work in some situations. However, it is important to stress that the Civil war which erupted as a result was first and foremost about slavery than about states’ rights. Defunding the humanities, cutting history classes and departments. As for museums, people I know who work in museums tear their hair out about this suggestion, that somehow, we’re going to ship all these Confederate monuments off to the lucky museum that has to find a place to put them. GAZETTE: In the past, people have suggested the monuments should stay, but that additional plaques or other information should be incorporated to add context. Truthfully. I began reading John Hubbuch's July 22 column in agreement with his opening thought that the coming election for President "should be a layup" for Joe Biden. I have asked several times about proof in blanket... Bill, please stop sending me comments my way. Doesn't look like the Jewel or the VA have covid... Ed Egan I would have thought you would be more ashamed... No need to wait for the Oak Park Health Dept. From the Editorial Board:Remove Confederate monuments to America's original sin of slavery Tear down systemic racism brick by brick. Protesters next to a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va. For this reason, the symbols of the Confederacy and the idealization of its leaders in the form of statues in prominent public places is an abomination that should no longer be tolerated in our country if we are to truly make Black Lives Matter. Trump uses white supremacist ideas to attempt to rally his base and divide natural political allies. GAZETTE: Many believe that taking the statues down is an attempt to cover up or erase history. Become a digital member. I cannot see myself pulling down a statue in that way. If so, this is exactly why they should remain. Wednesday, July 29th, 2020 10:30 AM. This is why the city council of Charlottesville voted, a century after it was commissioned, to remove the statue of Robert Edward Lee. GORDON-REED: No. There is no path to a peaceful and prosperous country without challenging and rejecting that as a basis for our society. Don't help him. to have... You would think a decent neighbor might realize the... Neal Buer by the way, when I told the doctor about the... Neal Buer yes I do. Who Abraham Lincoln was. I certainly understand the emotion — the passion ­— particularly if government officials have turned a blind eye to previous petitions from the community. Which is why the story of the Civil War needs to be told. “We need to be reminded of some atrocity that happened. Why do we want to remove Confederate statues? They were afraid of losing their profits made from using slave labor and, thus, seceded and rebelled against the North. Why weren't they torn down when the Civil Rights Movement ended legal segregation and denial of the right to vote? So these statues, I think, need to be contextualized historically. Confederate statues are coming down following George Floyd's death. Black people, North and South, know who these traitors were and what they stood for: the preservation and expansion of slavery. A statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee was removed from the US Capitol on Monday. Opinion: Columns. Why are confederates statues and symbols being removed in the USA? The rally protested the proposed removal of statues of Confederate Army Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. These symbols, the Confederate flag and Confederate traitor politicians and warriors must be treated as the abominations they truly are, not dismissed as some left-wing obsession. GORDON-REED: Ha! The news will be here. They are both excellent candidates for the kind of contextualization you alluded to. Was there no other way to handle that situation? Confederacy or the Confederate States of America, was a union of 11 Southern states during 1861-65. The Confederate battle flag has come down from the State House grounds of South Carolina, and the National Park Service has removed the flag from all battlefields where it flew, sparking a … The almost certainly imminent removal of the Confederate statues along Monument Avenue — Jefferson Davis was toppled on June 10 — is particularly noteworthy. Sort of like public radio. Students take care of local communities in engaged scholarship course, With Biden’s inauguration as starting line, analysts probe the challenges ahead, issue by issue, in this ‘rare and difficult hour’, COVIDU models the spread of COVID-19 in college settings, For the first time includes recommendations for babies and toddlers, © 2021 The President and Fellows of Harvard College. Why it matters to remove Confederate statues. Or they go up because of T.J.’s views on separation of church and state and other values that we hold dear. I think it dishonors them to celebrate the men who killed them and tried to kill off the American nation. There has been plenty of back and forth regarding the removal of Confederate statues and monuments. The actions of our President can cause another civil war. 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. Gordon-Reed is a professor of history and the Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History at Harvard Law School. The following monuments and memorials were removed during the George Floyd protests, mainly due to their connections to racism.The majority are in the United States and mostly commemorate the Confederate States of America (CSA), but some monuments were also removed in other countries, for example the statues of slave traders in the United Kingdom. OK, actually, that makes it easier. Wow, what incredible ignorance: of history, geography, culture and politics. Roy Cooper said in a public message Tuesday. And ultimately, it is why the others will come down, too. Many of America’s founders — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson — owned slaves. We already had a candidate that ran a campaign like that in 2016. It has long been my view that the statue needs to be moved to a more appropriate place. These symbols, the Confederate flag and Confederate traitor politicians and warriors must be treated as the abominations they truly are, not dismissed as some left-wing obsession. If we remove them, we’re simply rewriting history.” This week, a Mississippi supervisor (elected official) voted not to remove the Confederate monument in Columbus because for him, it’s history. It would be odd for me to condone other people doing something I would not do. 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. Now though we're asking you to partner up in paying for our reporters and photographers who report this news. Well, let’s cut to the chase. Why it matters to remove Confederate statues. This isn’t just a Southern problem. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's statue was removed from the US Capitol on Monday as part of a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act passed last week by Congress. Here's what we know. Thanks for turning to Wednesday Journal and OakPark.com. A 2018 report from the Southern Poverty Law Center found there are more than 1,700 monuments to the Confederacy still in public spaces. Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials is an ongoing process in the United States since the 1960s. A high-profile decision to tear down a famous bronze figure of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va., was … 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. White elites showed their thanks by erecting Confederate monuments. 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? Dreamers and DACA supporters rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court. Who Frederick Douglass was. I think on these two, Washington and Jefferson, in particular, you take the bitter with sweet. The main duty is not to hide the bitter parts. We love our thousands of digital-only readers. Across the nation and even across oceans, statues of Confederate or racist leaders are coming down or there are fights to take them down. As I read further, however, I became alarmed as Mr. Hubbuch expressed the idea that Biden does not need to be baited into side issues like Civil War monuments … "pretty much anything AOC is for." I don’t. We're now a non-profit -- Growing Community Media -- so your donation is tax deductible. GORDON-REED: I suppose, if people want to, everything can pave the way to some other point. What a racist, sexist, ageist remark. GORDON-REED: I would say there are other places for that — on battlefields and cemeteries. There’s an app for that, Assessing the latest U.S. dietary guidelines. That’s not fair, asking me as a law professor. But then Hubbuch compounds his error. They’re part of history. So, the Southern states preferred to start the Civil war, rather tha… Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Harvard news. he reason is that only now, after the death by torture of George Floyd, have the scales fallen from the eyes of many white people. In the wake of Charlottesville, a chorus of media outlets, political activists, and random people on the Internet have called for the removal or destruction of Confederate statues in … Who Jefferson Davis was. GAZETTE: What about the slippery slope argument? Almost two years after New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu called for the removal of four Confederate statues from public spaces around the city, the process finally got … Confederate statues should be removed from state property, Gov. She lost. GORDON-REED: This moment feels different because there’s been a great awakening in the country about police-on-citizen violence. What are your thoughts on a separate museum for such statues? It's time. Both Washington and Jefferson were critical to the formation of the country and to the shaping of it in its early years. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's time. Published by Joshua Bowman at August 18, 2017. On the plus side, we're giving you a simple way, and a better reason, to join in. The Virginia statues still stood amid the protests following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, though they were tagged with graffiti. To tell a more honest story. It had to happen, right? Do you agree? Why is it only now that the Confederate flag is being banned from NASCAR or the state flag of Mississippi? We already had a candidate that ran a campaign like that in 2016. Sign-up to get the latest news updates for Oak Park and River Forest. The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and the financial fallout, How Black protest may be key to finally ending racial violence. The Confederates lost the war, the rebellion. Those are the real threats to history. They were taught in elementary school onwards that these men were "heroes" for fighting to defend the Southern way of life from the "War of Northern Aggression." Mr. Hubbuch, you say few people feel passionately about these statues. now that the Confederate flag is being banned from NASCAR or the state flag of Mississippi? In several cities, these tributes have been vandalized or torn down by protestors or removed by public officials. Everybody knows who won the war. Does this moment, and these efforts feel different to you? History will still be taught. Most white Southerners know who Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and the other Confederate traitors were. White supremacy became a convenient argument to justify the subjugation of black people in the South and non-white peoples globally during the age of Imperialism. The momentum to remove Confederate memorials … And signing up for a monthly donation, or making a one-time donation, is fast and easy. What a racist, sexist, ageist remark. The monuments go up because, without Washington, there likely would not have been an American nation. That's how the Civil War was characterized in Southern segregated white classrooms. Why are Confederate statues being removed? Mr. Collins also highlights that most African-Americans felt many progressives don't want the statues removed because Confederate statues and other memorials symbolize racism in the rock. If that were true, why have they continued to remain in the centers of cities throughout the South up to the present day? The victors, the thousands of soldiers — black and white — in the armed forces of the United States, died to protect this country. The United States was far from perfect, but the values of the Confederacy, open and unrepentant white supremacy and total disregard for the humanity of black people, to the extent they still exist, have produced tragedy and discord. Honestly, not only to condemn but to fully grasp the scope and wide ranging implications that continue to last today. The video of the officer with his knee on George Floyd’s neck was so extreme. We do not build war memorials to celebrate war, but as a reminder of the tragic cost of … To view the full print edition of the Wednesday Journal 2019 Answer Book, please click here. Interview was edited for clarity and space. What do you think of that idea? “There is no path to a peaceful and prosperous country without challenging and rejecting that as a basis for our society.”, Supreme Court decision shielding DACA draws relief, celebration, A safer return to campuses? Perhaps I should pose the following question. 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 more. The president of the United States has unleashed a … Many municipalities in the United States have removed monuments and memorials on public property dedicated to the Confederate States of America (CSA), and some, such as Silent Sam in North Carolina, have been torn down by protestors. No one puts a monument up to Washington or Jefferson to promote slavery. Should they? Thanks for the A2A Samantha. Annette Gordon-Reed, a historian of U.S. slavery, legal scholar, and member of the Presidential Initiative on Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery, spoke with the Gazette about the issue. Slaves were the basis of the Southern economy at that time. Claim your bragging rights. She won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for her explosive 2008 work, “The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family.”. Does removing statues of Columbus or Confederate officials pave the way for action against monuments honoring those who helped create the United States? Please don't join him in these pursuits. Is there a higher moral cause that supersedes the law? The law goes into effect July 1, and its how Stoney, the city's mayor, plans for the other four Confederate statues on Monument Avenue to be removed. I’ve said it before: There is an important difference between helping to create the United States and trying to destroy it. White supremacy and its many symbols perpetuate the oppression and dehumanization of Black people. He was first and foremost, a slave owner and defender of the institution of slavery. Research reveals the long-term impact following the destruction of the Greenwood District, Harvard experts talk about how to turn the moment’s 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, Harvard alumna Amanda Gorman delivered a soaring inaugural poem, Harvard community reflects on the lessons of a solemn inaugural for troubled times. It depends on who the person is and what the objections are. But why do we have to remove the Confederate statues? Simply stated, beginning in the 1890s, these Confederate generals and politicians were resurrected and placed on pedestals throughout the South to re-establish white supremacy as the predominant ideology of the states of the former Confederacy and in the United States generally. USA. Sculptures and other monuments. Robert E. Lee was not a hero or faithful soldier of his homeland. Must we allow symbols of racism on public land? As I read further, however, I became alarmed as Mr. Hubbuch expressed the idea that Biden does not need to be baited into side issues like Civil War monuments … "pretty much anything AOC is for." There are far more dangerous threats to history. We will know who Robert E. Lee was. There have been other videos, of course, but there is something about this image of a prone individual who is not moving and who we know is losing, or has lost, his life — after an encounter that started over an alleged counterfeit $20 bill. Why Should We Care About Confederate 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. By Alisha Ebrahimji, Artemis Moshtaghian and Lauren M. Johnson, CNN. Updated 1945 GMT (0345 HKT) July 1, 2020 In several cities, these tributes have been vandalized or torn down by protestors or removed by public officials. 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. If we are not reminded about it, we are going to have a … Do not settle for the symbolic act of taking down statues… Floyd's death has riveted their gaze to the reality of white supremacy's existence in the minds of white police officers and American society in general. White supremacy and its many symbols perpetuate the oppression and dehumanization of Black people. Note: This page requires you to login with Facebook to comment. No threats from us. Slavery was the legal regime of rape, torture, genital mutilation, family separation, and the robbery of the fruits of one's labor based solely on one's skin color. Protests over Floyd's death in Minneapolis have refocused the country's attention on police brutality and racial injustice. Donald Trump wants to continue to wave the Confederate flag, protect the statues of Confederate traitors and torturers, and leave U.S. Army forts named for traitors and losers. Share on Facebook : Share on Twitter: Email: Print: Joe … A public monument … Floyd's death has riveted their gaze to the reality of white supremacy's existence in the minds of white police officers and American society in general. A high-profile decision to tear down a famous bronze figure of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va., was halted by a court challenge, which was extended indefinitely on Thursday. A little story about a doctor.... . Has the Oak Park Public Health Department sought... Oak Street Health I was told has the vaccine. Many people have observed that Confederate memorials were mainly erected in defiance of progress towards civil rights for liberated slaves and their descendants. It’s time to remove all statues because all statues are bad (Washington Post illustration; photos by The Washington Post, AP, Getty Images and iStock) By … She lost. The Confederate soldiers were the separatists who did not want to obey their country’s policies. As for local officials responsible to the citizens in their municipalities and states, it is imperative to remove Confederate statues. We're counting on an exquisite mix of civic enlightenment and mild shaming. The reason is that only now, after the death by torture of George Floyd, have the scales fallen from the eyes of many white people. 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? He says most Americans do not know or care who Jefferson Davis was, what century the Civil War was fought, and that relatively few people care about these statues except for those on the far left. 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. No paywalls or article countdowns. The legislation orders the removal of the 11 Confederate statues on display in the Capitol complex that are part of the National Statuary Hall collection.