Recent weeks have seen a lot of turmoil and upheaval, beginning with protests about the death of George Floyd, leading to more protests, rioting, and still more protests. Protestors began defacing monuments and statues with “BLM” graffiti and demanding their removal. Soon cities were on board; on June 18th the National Trust for Historic Preservation lent their approval for the removal of Confederate monuments from public spaces[1]. The statues began to come down. I don’t think that their removal will have any significant effect on race relations in our country, but I see the argument. Statues honoring generals of a rebellious country that lasted only four years don’t exactly rank up there with the Founding Fathers.
The fervor to remove statues didn’t stop with the Confederacy, however. Soon protesters were taking aim at Washington; a descendant of Jefferson wrote an articulate plea for the removal of his monument[2]; even Lincoln was not spared the criticism of the “woke” crowd that was drunk on destatuation[3].
This movement is not exactly revisionist; it’s not “rewriting” history per se, but it is certainly censoring what our nation should consider laudable, and we will see where this little experiment takes us. Thus far there has been no discussion about who might replace the images of those removed and now discarded personalities of our past. Perhaps we no longer believe in heroes.
So where does it end? Which public figure is safe at this point? Is Theodore Roosevelt safe; would Martin Luther King make the cut – John F. Kennedy? What public figure is sacred and pure enough to withstand the scrutiny of this new Zeitgeist? I’m not sure when this statue toppling frenzy will stop, but I suspect that human nature will eventually want to replace the statues with something that the new generation finds acceptable. My recommendation on this point is not to suggest a person, but a material. I submit that all new monuments be made in unfinished sandstone . . . or perhaps even pumice. That way the new monuments will be sure to exist only in our spotless present and will not outlast the sensibilities that erected them.
[1] https://savingplaces.org/press-center/media-resources/national-trust-statement-on-confederate-memorials?utm_medium=email&utm_source=update&fbclid=IwAR3oFnlZTiXL4zR1da0tVLirDNKS3A4odDmB7RxlsbbsE3XcXuemKOrSAEw#.Xwat5S0iefC
[2] https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/506186-jefferson-descendant-take-down-his-memorial
[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/protesters-denounce-abraham-lincoln-statue-in-dc-urge-removal-of-emancipation-memorial/2020/06/25/02646910-b704-11ea-a510-55bf26485c93_story.html
The fervor to remove statues didn’t stop with the Confederacy, however. Soon protesters were taking aim at Washington; a descendant of Jefferson wrote an articulate plea for the removal of his monument[2]; even Lincoln was not spared the criticism of the “woke” crowd that was drunk on destatuation[3].
This movement is not exactly revisionist; it’s not “rewriting” history per se, but it is certainly censoring what our nation should consider laudable, and we will see where this little experiment takes us. Thus far there has been no discussion about who might replace the images of those removed and now discarded personalities of our past. Perhaps we no longer believe in heroes.
So where does it end? Which public figure is safe at this point? Is Theodore Roosevelt safe; would Martin Luther King make the cut – John F. Kennedy? What public figure is sacred and pure enough to withstand the scrutiny of this new Zeitgeist? I’m not sure when this statue toppling frenzy will stop, but I suspect that human nature will eventually want to replace the statues with something that the new generation finds acceptable. My recommendation on this point is not to suggest a person, but a material. I submit that all new monuments be made in unfinished sandstone . . . or perhaps even pumice. That way the new monuments will be sure to exist only in our spotless present and will not outlast the sensibilities that erected them.
[1] https://savingplaces.org/press-center/media-resources/national-trust-statement-on-confederate-memorials?utm_medium=email&utm_source=update&fbclid=IwAR3oFnlZTiXL4zR1da0tVLirDNKS3A4odDmB7RxlsbbsE3XcXuemKOrSAEw#.Xwat5S0iefC
[2] https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/506186-jefferson-descendant-take-down-his-memorial
[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/protesters-denounce-abraham-lincoln-statue-in-dc-urge-removal-of-emancipation-memorial/2020/06/25/02646910-b704-11ea-a510-55bf26485c93_story.html
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