New Democratic majority set to bring down Confederate statues in Virginia
Source: The Hill
Democrats in Virginias General Assembly are poised to again attempt to remove Confederate monuments after last week saw the party claim a majority in both houses of the legislature, according to The Associated Press.
This is about what do we remember? What do we honor? Its the right to decide what we celebrate, said Del.-elect Sally Hudson (D), whose district includes Charlottesville, the site of the deadly 2017 white supremacist Unite the Right rally.
The city of Charlottesville is currently embroiled in a lawsuit over its decision the same year to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee, as well as its relocation of another monument to Thomas Stonewall Jackson, with a judge temporarily ruling against the removal of the statues.
I cant imagine we would go through this session without that getting a full hearing, Del. Lamont Bagby (D), chairman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, said of the issue of the statues. I suspect that it will be met with success.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/470100-new-democratic-legislature-could-bring-down-confederate-statues-in-va
OldManTarHeel
(435 posts)I'm good with this, put the statues in a museum and 'Get Over It' . .
benld74
(9,889 posts)lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)maxrandb
(15,192 posts)In Seattle there is a statue of Lenin and the citizens paint the hands red to symbolize the blood on them.
maxsolomon
(32,992 posts)With the context clearly illustrated. It would be quite illuminating.
kimbutgar
(20,882 posts)If you want to see these statues send them to a museum, charge admission and the profits after operating profits go to the NAACP!
Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)But they shouldn't be put in a place of honor
obamanut2012
(25,911 posts)Cast and sold way after the Civil War. Zero history involved.
Melt them down and turn them into plowshares.
Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)When they were made is irrelevant, they represent historical figures who were on the wrong side of history.
I take it you would not approve of the Berlin Wall museum either? Just dig out heads in the sand and pretend it never happened eh?
JonLP24
(29,322 posts)Last edited Wed Nov 13, 2019, 07:03 PM - Edit history (1)
They put these status up during racist times.
There are certain moments in US history when Confederate monuments go up
The first spike
The first spike is around 1900. That's 35 years after the end of the Civil War.
When the war ended, relatively few monuments went up in the South. The economy and social order were just too devastated. But after money was raised, sponsoring groups promoted the "Lost Cause" ideology -- the belief that states' rights, not slavery, was the Confederacy's principal cause.
By 1900, many states were implementing Jim Crow laws, meant to disenfranchise newly freed African-Americans and prevent integration.
It's in this climate that cities and states ramped up their construction of Confederate symbols.
The second spike
The second, albeit smaller, spike is in the mid-1950s and 1960s. Change was in the air. Brown v. Board of Education. The Civil Rights Act. The Voting Rights Act. As the SPLC put it in its report, "The civil rights movement led to a backlash among segregationists."
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/08/16/us/confederate-monuments-backlash-chart-trnd/index.html
onetexan
(12,994 posts)Last edited Wed Nov 13, 2019, 09:20 PM - Edit history (1)
The Chinese laborers who built the US railroads in the latter end of 1800s for example, rarely ever get mentioned except in few PBS documentaries maybe. Same with the Navajo code talkers during WWII, the native American iron workers who built NY's empire state bldg and the Brooklyn bridge, and the many many notable Hispanics who've made significant contributions in science, the arts, etc. whom we don't often hear of.
JonLP24
(29,322 posts)I think I probably worded my post horribly wrong to make my point. I'll try to edit.
onetexan
(12,994 posts)I just edited my earlier post to add 'native American' descriptor to the ironworkers.
maxsolomon
(32,992 posts)if they're destroyed, I won't care much. either way.
mahina
(17,506 posts)I had family on both sides and when they took down my Grandmas great grandfathers statue in New Orleans our family felt no harm.