Kentucky mayor responds to Charlottesville by doing exactly what white nationalists dont want

[babylonsister]

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/8/12/16139142/charlottesville-va-protests-lexington-mayor

Kentucky mayor responds to Charlottesville by doing exactly what white nationalists don’t want
Things aren’t working out for white supremacists.
Updated by German [e-mail]@vox.com Aug 12, 2017, 6:07pm EDT


White nationalists descended on Charlottesville, Virginia, on Friday and Saturday to protest the city’s decision to take down Confederate monuments. But not only have the protests done nothing to change Charlottesville’s mind on this issue, it’s apparently prompted at least one other city to speed up action to remove its Confederate statues as well.

Mayor Jim Gray of Lexington, Kentucky, made the announcement on Twitter on Saturday:

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

snip//

This is the exact opposite of what the white nationalists marching in Charlottesville wanted. But by trying to impose their will on other cities, they have actively sped up the very thing they’re protesting against.

The protests themselves went seriously wrong, with brawls breaking out throughout the two days and a car crashing into counterprotesters demonstrating against white nationalists. Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer and the University of Virginia Medical Center have confirmed that at least one person died and at least 19 are being treated for injuries as a result of the entire day’s events.

Seeing these events, it’s not hard to imagine why a mayor would want to act quickly to condemn such hate and violence. Mayor Gray is just taking it one step further, fast-tracking plans to take down monuments that commemorate a group of rebels who literally fought to keep slavery in America.

[Historic NY]

1. Somebody ought to find one big ass garbage truck

to pickup the trash

[shenmue]

2. Amen

[Gore1FL]

9. I'd rather recycle the metal into playground equipment for poor minority children.

I'd be wasteful to just throw it away when we could piss off the alt-right twice.

[Qutzupalotl]

3. Confederates? You mean TRAITORS?

[Ilsa]

4. It all needs to go into museums.

I don't want people to forget our history. We don't need these statues in the general public to honor them. They need to be aids to remember our history in museums.

[Boomerproud]

6. Agree.

My SIL just got back from Poland, Czech Republic and Germany and said there are monuments everywhere about WWII and Nazi atrocities. Forgetting or whitewashing history is not the answer.

[Beartracks]

13. "Forgetting or whitewashing history is not the answer."

It bears repeating.

================

[Barack_America]

7. The images can be preserved. The actual relics need to be destroyed.

There's no need to preserve that which glorifies racism.

[politicat]

11. Most of those statues were the product of late Victorian mawkishness.

Installed in the 1880s, 1890s and 1900s. They are the last remnants of the zombie capital extracted from enslaved people, and they were erected in the same spirit of worshipping the dead that erected the horror that is the Albert Memorial -- a societal failure to cope with loss, a refusal to admit wrong-doing, and hagiography of people who were anything but saints. Victoria at least had good reason -- Albert was a fairly decent human being and a good husband and father. But her grief made it fashionable to engage in a sort of conspicuous consumption and display of wealth in lionizing dead traitors.

Without that context, the only thing that moving a statue to a museum does is to endanger actual art and history and the people doing the work.

[barbtries]

12. I agree.

they should be included in museums with the history of the civil war. what they fought for, why it is good that they lost.

[Ilsa]

20. Absolutely. NT

[Barack_America]

5. That's wonderful. And I'm sorry, but that Lee statue in VA needs to blow up..

...literally, and as soon as possible.

No more of this.

[Honeycombe8]

8. He's a brave man. Good for him. We need to stand up to the Nazis. Not in our America.

We need to get Democrats in all offices at every opportunity. And speak out.

[AlexSFCA]

10. now is the perfect time to put pressure on all public

buildigs that still display confederate flags. Make them go defensive and on record.

[Beartracks]

14. Our vets didn't fight WWII so Nazis could have a say here. n/t

==================

[SCVDem]

19. Well.......

Remember Werner Von Braun and the space program?

There are always exceptions.

[Stonepounder]

15. Proud to show the rest of the US that not all of Kentucky is McConnell & Rand Paul

The Dems are taking a page from the GOP playbook and starting at the grassroots local level Mayor Gray id a Democrat. And good for him for delivering a slap in the fact to the White Nationalists and Nazis.

[roamer65]

16. Hire a cheap bulldozing company, Mr Gray.

Do it on Monday!

[Nevernose]

17. How would those assholes feel about statues of

Osama Bin Laden or Timothy McVeigh? Because they're on the same par, except the two I mentioned, as opposed to the Confederates, are arguably responsible for LESS human misery.

[Tatiana]

18. And this is why it is good to try to elect Democrats in red states.

They are more likely to demonstrate excellent decision-making and strong leadership in the face of right-wing fascism.

Good for Mayor Gray.