A standing-room-only crowd gathered at the Rayburn House Office Building to hear three leading authorities on the subject—David Blight, director of the Gilder Lehrman Center at Yale University; Karen Cox, professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte; and Gaines Foster, LSU Foundation Professor of History at Louisiana State University. AHA Today I think in those places their should be a sort of a monument a stone with a plaque saying this was the former home of *insert name of monument* and it was removed on the day of *date* and some information about the monument that used to be there. Foster opened his remarks by insisting that the starting point for understanding the purpose of Confederate monuments is to understand the purpose of the Confederacy itself—the defense of white supremacy and slavery. Part of Orlando's "Johnny Reb" statue is removed from Eola Park in June. That leaves three ways in which cities around the country could deal with them: keep them and add context, move them to museums, or move them elsewhere. County Judge Paul Pape says now is the time to decide what to do with two monuments on the county courthouse lawn. Advertisement: In the … Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis/Getty Images/file. Another person asked, so what should be done with the monuments? South Carolina removed the Confederate flag from its Statehouse grounds in 2015, after a self-described white supremacist killed nine black churchgoers in Charleston. St. Louis removed a Confederate monument from a city park in June, after reaching an agreement with the Missouri Civil War Museum. During this time, groups such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy and Sons of Confederate Veterans built monuments that promoted the “Lost Cause” ideology: the belief that states’ rights, not slavery, was the Confederacy’s principal cause, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Finding the right approach is another challenge. In spring 2017, the city oversaw the removal of four Confederate monuments. It's a model that could be implemented by cities that are now debating what to do with the space left behind by the Confederate monuments. Loewen asserted that the construction of these statues—often in veneration of Robert E. Lee or Jefferson Davis—represent what he calls a “nadir” in racial equality in the United States. Post-Soviet countries have done many different things to statues of Lenin, including moving them to statue parks or graveyards. What Should We Do with Confederate Monuments. Updated To judge from the size and responsiveness of the audience at the briefing, historians have much to contribute to our civic education about this contested issue. 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. Last week, the National History Center brought the issue to Capitol Hill as a congressional briefing. Communities can add context to them, move them to museums, or move them elsewhere, They shouldn't be destroyed, historians say, since they can impart lessons about the past. It took almost two years for the University of Texas to find a new home for a statue of Jefferson Davis. The Civil War was about standing against a government that wanted to take advantage of them. Tags: A statue of Confederate leader Jefferson Davis is removed in 2015 from University of Texas' South Mall. Nikki Haley announced that she will call for the Confederate flag to be removed. Public History. If an account exists, we've sent an email with a link to reset your password. In Winston-Salem, N.C., there are reportedly plans to move a Confederate monument … The overdue momentum to remove various Confederate symbols, especially some 1,500 statues, from their perches has picked up across the country in … Following the Charleston massacre, some monuments and other Confederate symbols were removed, perhaps most famously the battle flag from the South Carolina capitol building. “They provoke conversation about a period that a lot of people have forgotten about or don’t want to talk about.”. PHOTO: Barricades go up as the removal of a Jefferson Davis begins in May in New Orleans. Critics say contextualization has its challenges. Related Article “Unlike public spaces – like parks – museums are controlled spaces where experienced staff members can provide historical context for visitors, and people can choose to see the monuments or not,” said Blain, co-editor of “The Charleston Syllabus: Readings on Race, Racism, and Racial Violence.”. Please click the button below to agree to our Terms and Conditions and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. What the memorials vindicated, however, Foster stressed, was a social order that subordinated the lower orders to the landed elites, women to men, and, above all, blacks to whites. In one instance in Kentucky, a Confederate monument was moved to another, more welcoming town. Instead of moving them, some academics suggest adding historically accurate context so people can learn from them. The equestrian statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee looms over Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia. Confederate General P.G.T. To historians, what tends to be missing from Confederate monuments is the full picture of what they really stand for. The effort pits those who see the symbols as tributes to Southern heritage against others who regard them as a glorification of a sordid history of racism. Credit: AP/Kristen Zeis Updated June 11, 2020 5:15 PM It ended up back on campus, as a museum exhibit that centers more on the controversy surrounding the statue than the person it portrays. “Monuments were never fully representative of the localities they were put up in. It took nearly two years for the University of Mississippi to agree on language for a new plaque for a 1906 statue of a Confederate soldier. The Confederate flag is seen flying on the Capitol grounds a day after South Carolina Gov. It is telling in this context that the US Capitol’s Statuary Hall includes 12 statues of individuals who served the Confederacy, but only four of African Americans. The South tried to peacefully secede from the North. Virginia had a plan for dealing with its Confederate monuments. "I believe that Confederate statues should … They are NOT Monuments to Slavery or Monuments to White Supremacy! A crane removes a Confederate monument from Decatur Square in Georgia on Thursday night. The whole point of Confederate monuments is to celebrate white supremacy Just the way these symbols have been used in recent years underscores their intended purpose in American society. Governor Ralph Northam has given orders to take down the monument. Many of the same arguments used to defend Confederate monuments (“it’s our history”) would apply equally to Saddam in Iraq or George III in New York. Grossman stressed that historians should be at the table when public discussions about Confederate monuments arise. The contentious confederate monuments at the old Durham County Courthouse are now locked away behind a chain link fence. Putting up monuments to replace them that depict more of the whole story seems like a good idea but not where the monument was. The current controversy over Confederate monuments is about how we remember the past and interpret its meaning. “To leave them as they are is in many cases a giant middle finger to the communities in which they sit,” said Anne Sarah Rubin, a history professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. , Across the South and well beyond, cities and states have been removing Confederate monuments, recognizing their power as symbols of America’s foundational racism. That includes long-standing monuments in Decatur, McDonough and … In one instance in Kentucky, a Confederate monument was moved to another, more welcoming town. “What to do with Confederate monuments? © 2021 Cable News Network. Foster struck a similar note, pointing out that public opinion on the issue needs to change. PHOTO: Such monuments have come under renewed criticism as the country wrestles with questions of racial justice and dark aspects of its history. Others have given talks to civic groups, testified to government agencies, and spoken at public forums. Confederate battle flag: Separating the myths from facts. After the removal of a statue honoring Robert E. Lee, a general in the Confederate Army considered by many to be a hero for the part he played in the American Civil War, a clear divide has formed over whether it was the right thing to do. But it's clear that the status quo is not sustainable. Virginia had a plan for dealing with its Confederate monuments. A new home has yet to be found for a Confederate monument in St. Louis. AHA Today Most Confederate monuments were, in short, the result of private groups colonizing public space. Beauregard’s monument was completed in 1915. They are monuments to the BRAVE Confederate soldiers who stood against tyranny and fought and died DEFENDING their Nation. These monuments should stay to give people knowledge and teach them of what our state once was and still is. The next one is about Confederate monuments in former slave states, and it will take a lot longer to resolve. For those who fought to remove the statues, the question of what to do with them is a simple one to answer. Cox was blunter: the removal of these monuments, she stated, will not bring an end to the systemic racism that inspired them. Blight argued that we are in the midst of a new “memory boom,” a commoditized phenomenon that is distinct from historical knowledge. Confederate monument, downtown Hemming Park (1898): 34 "The president of Jacksonville City Council, Anna Lopez Brosche, called for all Confederate monuments to be moved from city property to a museum. Tennis legend and Richmond native Arthur Ashe was added to Monument Avenue in 1996, the last time the city had the monument debate. Many museums already hold items from dark chapters in history, including racist memorabilia from the Jim Crow era, said University of Pittsburgh assistant professor Keisha N. Blain. By the 1920s, northerners had bought into it as well. “Confederate monuments have and continue to be a symbol of racism, oppression, and slavery. Orlando’s “Johnny Reb” statue is destined for the Confederate veterans’ section of city-owned Greenwood Cemetery, after it was removed in June from a public park. It became the basis for reconciliation between North and South, a reconciliation that rested on the backs of blacks. It did so by shaping school curricula, organizing civic events, and establishing Confederate monuments and other memorials on public sites. Confederate monuments, like their Communist bronze and granite comrades in Budapest, are kitsch. “If these groups are so in love with their monuments, they should follow suit – pay for it to be removed, find a piece of property and then worship to their heart’s content.”. Flickr/Louisville Images/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. In addition to explaining the “Lost Cause” ideology that the monument’s builders subscribed to, the new plaque describes how the statue was a meeting place for a rally opposing school integration in 1962. The second reason that I believe Confederate Monuments do not deserve places of honor is that most of the ones erected in public spaces came well after the Civil War, and their purpose was to impose White Supremacy and the active blocking of living into the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. In the question-and-answer session that followed the panelists’ formal remarks, it became clear that memory seriously complicates efforts to resolve this controversy. Post-Soviet countries have done many different things to statues of Lenin, including moving them to statue parks or graveyards. To historians, what tends to be missing from Confederate monuments is the full picture of what they really stand for. Founded in the 1890s, as black men were being disenfranchised and targeted by lynch mobs with increased frequency, the UDC sought to celebrate the “Lost Cause” and its defense of white supremacy. CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network. It's a model that could be implemented by cities that are now debating what to do with the space left behind by the Confederate monuments. They’re not usually monuments to the history of the United States—almost all of them represent leaders of another country, the Confederate States of America, which rose up against the United States to defend the right to own other human beings. But even if museums want them, it can be hard to make room for six tons of bronze or marble. Museums — or cemeteries — are more fitting final resting places for these relics of the past. Cox made a similar point, noting that these monuments celebrate a sanitized version of history that obscures the centrality of slavery and white supremacy to the “Lost Cause.”. This makes them historically significant symbols of the South’s vile hundred-year struggle after the war to deny African-Americans their rights under the law — a legacy of shame that should never be forgotten.) North America Oct 30, 2017. The current controversy over Confederate monuments is about how we remember the past and interpret its meaning. 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