But this week, we’ve seen that Confederate memorials are splitting us further and further apart. But unlike the Nazis’ atrocities, which lasted for just under a decade, we enabled slavery to exist in America for more than two centuries before finally decreeing its end. Conservatives believe in preserving and carrying on the best of the past—not its worst. … Many people have observed that Confederate memorials were mainly erected in defiance of progress towards civil rights for liberated slaves and their descendants. White women were instrumental in raising funds to build these Confederate monuments. Every item on this page was carefully chosen by a Veranda editor. As we saw in Durham—and Wednesday at the Lincoln Memorial—there will likely be a temptation in days to come to obliterate or vandalize public monuments. Their work is an important part of setting the record straight on American history. So, the Southern states preferred to start the Civil war, rather tha… The momentum to remove Confederate memorials … The monuments are thought to be a celebration of slavery. The United Daughters of the Confederacy, founded in the … You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io, 12 Spectacular Examples of Victorian Architecture. The semi-hysterical push to remove them is, I … confront our history of systemic racism and racial violence with monuments of another kind, 8 Gardening Apps Every Green Thumb Should Know, 16 Interior Designers Everyone Should Know, Making the Case For Using the Good China Every Day, Here's How To Deal With Annoying Passengers On Your Flight, Display the monuments and memorials in museums (excluding Confederate heritage museums) where they are interpreted in the context of "Lost Cause" ideology, the Jim Crow era, white supremacy, and systemic racism, Place monuments and memorials in private parks dedicated to telling the painful story of America’s racist past, Enter the monuments and memorials into permanent storage, Recontextualize monuments and memorials in situ, There are many other solutions for communities to explore, and this list is not exhaustive. 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. "When interpreted through an anti-racist lens, historic buildings tell the stories of enslaved people and their descendants," says Diaz-Griffith. Plantations, like the Colosseum and the pyramids, are geographical spaces, whose histories are filled with oppression and injustice. Civil Rights Activist Argues To Keep Confederate Monuments Andrew Young, ... compared with 40 percent who say they should be removed. Steven Inskeep argues for NPR that statues of the Founding Fathers are drastically different in meaning, and thus not at risk of being removed. We must ask ourselves, while Baltimore vanishes its Confederate monuments overnight and protesters topple a Confederate statue in Durham, what place these objects have in America’s life. You can follow her on Twitter, There Are Good Reasons To Consider Removing Confederate Memorials From Our Public Squares. But they don’t belong in a lofty position in the public square. The removal of the confederate statues has its pros and cons as to why they should … They were afraid of losing their profits made from using slave labor and, thus, seceded and rebelled against the North. Here's Why. Tearing down Confederate monuments, or any from our history, will not change the past. They still belong in a museum, perhaps—a place that can give them context and the proper note of sobriety. Gracy Olmstead's writings can also be found at The American Conservative, The Week, Christianity Today, Acculturated, The University Bookman, and Catholic Rural Life. It's a construction that helped them ignore an inconvenient truth, and it serves the same function today. ", Furthermore, Diaz-Griffith notes that "sites such as Mount Vernon are at the forefront of research in the material culture of slavery. Smoking is censer to the devil. "When I became aware of social justice issues in my teens, I realized that something was off with the history I'd learned, but it was sometimes difficult to put my finger on it, as strange as that seems now. Similarly, proponents of this anti-Confederate statue argument must reckon with the dangerous slippery slope it could present, one President Donald Trump rightly pointed out on Tuesday evening: if you begin tearing down these statues, where do you end? After statues around the world were defaced as part of the Black Lives Matters protests, Kelly Grovier looks at why some monuments provoke powerful reactions. Confederate statues honor the Confederate war heroes and soldiers with buildings, statues, plaques and other forms of commemoration of the Confederacy; and now those buildings and statues are causing violence and arguments throughout the United States. Of course, it makes many angry to draw such a comparison. Anti-racist interpretive strategies can shed light on Black and brown stories from throughout our country’s history. Veranda participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. There are two primary arguments swirling around the Confederate statue debate. Confederate statues were erected to propagate and protect an idealistic, whitewashed image of the South. 50 Fabulous Drinks Tables for Any Occasion, 40 Museums You Need to Visit in Your Lifetime, 30 Radiant Paint Colors for Your Dining Room, 13 Black-Owned Home Brands To Support Now, This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. People across the ideological spectrum have supported the removal of Confederate monuments. Fifty-eight percent of respondents said the statues should remain, while 42 percent said they should be removed. And this historic context is exhibit number one in a case for the monuments' removals laid out by Michael Diaz-Griffith, the executive director of Sir John Soane Museum's Foundation in New York. The most prominent from conservatives is that these statues are important for two reasons: for the sake of history and its preservation, and for the sake of solemn remembrance. Members of the South Carolina Council of Conservative Citizens protest the removal of the Confederate flag from the State House dome by standing in front of the Confederate monument … ", "When you dig in to this topic, you can identity the very moment when white Southerners began saying the war was about states' rights rather than preserving the institution of slavery. Removing Confederate monuments isn’t going to erase the past, but lifts some of the burden off the shoulders of Americans living under the weight of that history, as it … Removing a statue does not also dictate the obliteration of Southern plantations, many of which still serve as a somber reminder of the troubled history of the South. What one should see in a statue of Lee is a ghost: a remainder from a past we cannot banish. Copyright © 2021 The Federalist, a wholly independent division of FDRLST Media, All Rights Reserved. Growing up in Florence, Alabama, Diaz-Griffith experienced the legacy of the "Lost Cause" ideology firsthand. "Unlike monuments, architecture is mutable, and historic buildings tell stories from throughout their histories—from the time of their construction through the present. Slaves were the basis of the Southern economy at that time. But all of us should seek to understand and sympathize with their arguments, and consider ways in which—if we do not remove these statues—we can mitigate their toxic effect, either via the erection of new memorials (to Martin Luther King Jr., or Harriet Tubman, or Sojourner Truth, or Frederick Douglass, or any number of other worthy individuals), or by adding context to the ones that exist. Our republic is already fractured. Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials is an ongoing process in the United States since the 1960s. 18 Most Beautiful Places to Visit in the South. ", Ultimately, Diaz-Griffith's vision is for the South's built environment to better reflect its culture. 3 reasons why confederate monuments SHOULD be removed from public places and 3 reasons why confederate monuments SHOULD NOT be removed.? The events in Charlottesville, Virginia, Saturday stirred a long simmering debate about Confederate statues, with many people demanding their removal and many arguing history should … 3. ... am opposed to the removal of Confederate statues in the south whether it be here in … Diaz-Griffith, a member of the Society of Architectural Historians, the Decorative Arts Trust, and the Royal Oak Foundation presented his case on his personal Instagram feed with a series of slides titled "The Anti Racist Preservationist's Guide to Confederate Monuments." In a society still grappling with deep racial discord and tension, why would we uphold such figures? As president of a cultural heritage organization, I feel obligated to weigh in on the current controversy over Confederate monuments. In the aftermath of Charlottesville’s violent, despicable protests, America has grappled with an overwhelmingly important question: how do we deal with the ghosts of our past? None of us are perfectly good. Their preservation enables us to teach important lessons to future generations. The most prominent from conservatives is that these statues are important for two reasons: for the sake of history and its preservation, and for the sake of solemn remembrance. The statues are a painful reminder of past and present institutionalized racism in the United States. “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. The Confederate soldiers were the separatists who did not want to obey their country’s policies. Since the horrific church shooting in Charleston, S.C., two years ago, calls to remove Confederate flags and monuments have swept the South from Virginia to Texas. When Trump called for the nation’s citizens to “cherish our history,” he didn’t ask a second important question—one Alexandra Petri asked in the Washington Post yesterday: “What will we cherish, and what will we disavow? C onfederate monuments are being removed around the country under pressure from those who say they honour a regime that enslaved African-Americans. Confederate monuments have always been symbols of white supremacy. The Most Stylish Cabins and Cottages in the U.S. Best Places in the World for Afternoon Tea. What are we putting on a pedestal, and what are we putting in a museum?”. But we should also consider which parts of our history we are most proud of, and most eager to uphold. Just as blacks were enslaved and considered to be “less than” in slavery days, blacks are still considered to be “less than” even now. As Matthew Boomer put it for The Federalist yesterday. The director of Sir John Soane's Museum Foundation takes an honest look at their history—and lays out plans for what to do with them going forward. For decades after the British empire had abolished its own slave trade and begun to grapple with its evils, America continued to cling tightly to its own. Our built environment should be welcoming and reflect that.". In the wake of the recent police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and widespread protests against police brutality and systemic racism in America, there are renewed calls for Confederate monuments around the country to come down—from Birmingham, Alabama, where a 52-foot obelisk known as the Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument was dismantled on June 1, … If you read the primary literature, it's all very clear.". A monument, many argue, is more than just commemorative: it holds and designates honor. And in that time, we have repeated the mistakes of the past. The white supremacists who gathered in Charlottesville to protest the imminent removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee did not do so merely for the sake of history. "Data on lynchings and monument-building reveal a correlation in their activity, clustered around Civil War anniversaries and gains in civil rights for Black Americans," he notes. Opinion: Don't Take Down Confederate Monuments. The latter were … Like many Confederate military monuments, this one dates from long after the war, from 1924, and was made in New York, primarily by Henry Merwin Shrady, best known for his monument … Because ultimately, America is supposed to represent “one nation, indivisible.” And if there’s anything we’ve seen and learned this week, it’s that these memorials are splitting us further and further apart. Washington, on the other hand, is celebrated not because of his relationship to slavery, but because he was a virtuous statesman and founder of our republic. What we hallow and uphold today will influence the perceptions and understandings of generations to come. According to this argument, the statues should not be covered with graffiti and broken to bits. Removal of the Confederate Statues On August 12, 2017, a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, VA turned into a violent and brought renewed attention to dozens of Confederate monuments from around the country. Demeaning and disregarding human life is evil, no matter how and where it happens. In Germany today, public memorials are dedicated to those who suffered at the hands of the Nazis, not to the Nazis themselves. It matters for posterity, as well. A monument in Charlotte, N.C., erected in 1929, praises Confederate soldiers because “they preserved the Anglo Saxon civilization of the South.” It was defaced in 2015 and subsequently put in a clear protective case to prevent future vandalism. Diaz-Griffith thanks to several folks who contributed editorial guidance: Special thanks for their helpful insight and support to Collier Calandruccio; Alonso Diaz Rickards; Katherine C. Hughes, Gerry Research Scholar, American Wing, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Abigail Muir; and Tiffany Wade Momon, Visiting Assistant Professor, Sewanee, The University of the South. Everybody knows who won the war. It can be hard to unpack a lifetime of learning—that process takes time, care, self-questioning, and a willingness to learn. In his essay, Diaz-Griffith makes suggestions for what should happen to Confederate monuments going forward, presenting four options: He also presents a counterargument to what he describes as "the slippery slope argument" presented by white people who worry that the removal of historic monuments of any kind may make it more difficult to preserve America's historic houses, particularly those built by enslaved people like Mount Vernon (the home of George Washington), Monticello (the home of Thomas Jefferson), and even the White House. The question is important not just for history’s sake. We do not erect monuments to people who performed extraordinary feats that were unquestionably evil, even if their characters included some virtuous traits. Let’s not make it worse. Not everyone will agree with the anti-Confederate statue movement. As Matthew Boomer put it for The Federalist yesterday,However, the other side of this debate is also worth considering. America is supposed to be 'one nation, indivisible.' Many of these monuments were erected during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when white southerners, fueled by a "Lost Cause" revisionist history of the Civil War, institutionalized white supremacy via Jim Crow laws, lynchings, and other acts of racial terror. People who use drugs see demons who disguise themselves as ghosts and aliens. CONFEDERATE statues and monuments honoring slave traders are being taken down amid worldwide anti-racism protests spurred by the death of … We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. A public statue uplifts (literally) its object. There are two primary arguments swirling around the Confederate statue debate. Having it in a public space can be a reminder that this sordid history is still with us, no matter how we try to bury it. The slides explain the history of how such monuments came to be, the development of the ideology behind their design and construction, how white supremacists used them to colonize public space, and early opposition to their erection. That is the value of a Lee monument in a society that has largely rejected him: to remember he existed, remember his mistakes, and preserve that memory to avoid repeating it. This is one of the reasons why a number of people actually think the confederate monuments should be removed. The Confederate statues have no redeeming qualities to them, but other statues certainly do. We don’t have concentration camps here in America. But it will make for a poorer, less enlightened future. Is Virginia America's Most Stylish State? There is a reason why statues of Confederate generals are still powerful political symbols; a reason why a candidate came a hair’s breadth from securing the … Using foul language calls upon pagan deities (aka demons); Holy Spirit departs on 7 meters. 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. We do not build war memorials to celebrate war, but as a reminder of the tragic cost of war and a warning to future generations. To remove them would be a work of iconoclasm or historical revisionism, like tearing down the Colosseum (also a troubled and bloodstained historical artifact) or the pyramids. Why would we give them such a public place—to the detriment and exclusion of countless other historical figures who better deserve commemoration? ), Perhaps one of the best cautions against Confederate generals’ space in the public square comes from Lee himself, ironically enough. "The South today is an incredibly diverse and positive place. However, this should not give license to mob action and vitriolic iconoclasm. The … The reason pertains to the fact that confederate statues have been up for the last 130 years or so. The Equal Justice Initiative's National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which opened in 2018, seeks to confront our history of systemic racism and racial violence with monuments of another kind: rectangular corten steel boxes that represent the more than 4,000 cases of lynchings documented by the EJI. Members of the Left must remember that such frenzied and uncontrolled action will only foment more vitriol and resentment, and likely hurt their cause instead of helping it. It is important to remember that we live in a country built by strife and bloodshed, as well as hope and prosperity. Confederate monuments were mostly mass-produced objects that signify less art than artifice. That said, in a society grappling with the meaning of and limits to “political correctness,” such a removal project could spiral dangerously out of control. Most importantly, Diaz-Griffith underscores the relationship between these monuments and racial violence against Blacks. Since the murder of Floyd in May, an estimated more than 100 Confederate symbols have been removed from around the country, including a Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from the U.S. Capitol that had represented Virginia for more than a century. The vast majority of statues commemorating Confederate soldiers were erected in the early 20th century and then mid-century. The faces of those they oppressed serve as reminder enough of the sinful, bloody proclivities of human nature. "We can begin to root out 'Lost Cause' attitudes and embrace a pluralistic vision of the South, which for me is about family, food, friends, porches, the outdoors, connection, equity, and thoughtful traditions—not unexamined racism or closed-mindedness," says Diaz-Griffin. Quite possibly the most controversial topic in America right now is Confederate statues, and whether or not they should be removed. If so, this is exactly why they should remain. A commonly heard rebuttal to this is, more often than not, that we should add memorials to public spaces, without removing others. “For there to be racial progress, there need to be drastic improvements in failing schools in minority communities,” Martinez exclaimed. Lee was not Hitler. A monument, many argue, is more than just commem… Will statues of the slave-owning Founding Fathers, like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, be allowed to remain in venerated public spaces? (And this doesn’t even touch on our treatment of Native Americans throughout this time.). They are thought to be a painful reminder of the oppression African Americans faced. (And, again, it’s important to note that most people want these statues to be placed in a museum, not destroyed. "I passively received 'Lost Cause' ideology from my environment—from songs, local stories, Southern literature, and even friends and family," he says. For them, the monument was—and is—a talisman of meaning and ideology, a symbol for present and future generations. He wrote, “I think it wisest not to keep open the sores of war, but to follow the example of those nations who endeavored to obliterate the marks of civil strife, and to commit to oblivion the feelings it engendered.”. To only hold up flawless exemplars of virtue via our monuments and statues would result in a rather sparse public space. Our country (and all other countries) is made up of troubled, sinful, and despicable human beings. To consider the staggering loss of human life—in the Atlantic passage from Africa to America, as well as over those 200 years on American soil—is sickening and troubling to the extreme. Training as an art historian and scholar of material culture helped me cut through the ideological fog that remained from adolescence. We cannot and should not consider ourselves “better” than another nation in matters of oppression. Lee, despite his faith and generally well-thought-of character, still sought to protect and preserve a national system of human oppression. In the wake of the recent police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and widespread protests against police brutality and systemic racism in America, there are renewed calls for Confederate monuments around the country to come down—from Birmingham, Alabama, where a 52-foot obelisk known as the Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument was dismantled on June 1, to Richmond's Monument Avenue, where Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has announced plans to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee and to propose an ordinance to dismantle four additional Confederate monuments. However, it’s worth considering the difference in kind between such objects. However, the other side of this debate is also worth considering. Contrary to comments from President Trump and others characterizing the removal of Confederate monuments as rewriting history, their removal corrects history. To remain in venerated public spaces all other countries ) is made of! 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