Fall Of 'Heinously Ugly' Racist Statue Marks Another Step In Slow March Of Progress - Rachel Maddow

[Rhiannon12866]

Rachel Maddow looks at the recent demolition of Confederate racism and insurrection and notes that positive change is still taking place in the United States even if its progress may sometimes be imperceptibly slow. Aired on 12/07/2021.

[multigraincracker]

1. I would suggest, don't just remove, replace with

Republican Civil War heroes like Grant and Sherman.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. He was the first KKK Grand Wizard... and he was buried underneath it.

[hlthe2b]

8. Are you unaware of Sherman's Native American Genocide?!!!!

Replace a horrendous racist and KKK leader with a figure who was among those most responsible for the focused extermination of Native Americans and near-total destruction of their food supply in one of this Nation's most notorious incidents of targeted genocide? OMG.


https://www.history.com/news/shermans-war-on-native-americans

The general is best known for his for his bloody march across Georgia, stealing livestock and intimidating civilians in one of the most famous campaigns of the Civil War. But after the war, he didn’t retire. Instead, he took his scorched-earth tactics to another war—one against Native Americans. Sherman’s leadership led not just to the extermination and relocation of thousands of indigenous people, but the annihilation of nearly all of the United States’ wild buffalo.

Extermination/Genocide in the "name of progress?" Wow, how much that reminds me of the South's justifications for African American Slavery. And just as damned horrific. THAT is your hero.

[multigraincracker]

13. Not my hero.

The most hated by the Confederate States.

[gladium et scutum]

10. Grant owned a slave for about 1 year

The man was given to him by his father-in-law. Grant gave the slave his freedom after a year rather than selling him.

[BigmanPigman]

2. The horse is OK but that KKK dude

is an anatomical freak. His head is 3 times too big and his neck is like Linda Blair's in The Exorcist.

[soldierant]

15. If you look at it as a caricature,

it's more acceptable aesthetically.

Nothing could make Bedford Forrest acceptable morally, though.

[AngryOldDem]

4. Watching it now on rerun

Totally fascinating, but not surprising. The Civil War has never really ended.

I wonder if there was some reason why Nashville couldn’t declare eminent domain and just take the land along the highway? Totally HIDEOUS sculpture. Nightmare fuel, actually. And the man’s comments about slavery…job security? Social Security?

The piece about Nathan Bedford Forrest was interesting too.

Rachel does compelling stories.

[Rhiannon12866]

5. I'm watching it again, too.

It was interesting, but also depressing as hell, learning how much this blatant bigot was held in esteem by so many people. And there are likely some there who still do. And you're right, the Civil War never ended for some, even now, 156 years later. I have Mary Trump's second book and she talks about that a lot. She points out that their leaders, Robert E Lee and Jefferson Davis, even though they were soundly defeated, were never treated as the traitors to this country that they were. In fact, their citizenship was restored in the 20th century.

[Busterscruggs]

6. I've been thinking

Of doing a bronze piece on Kathy griffin holding tfg's head just to show our solidarity and his ineffectiveness in trying to crush women's rights. I love sculpting

[Rhiannon12866]

7. I don't think that's the best idea, it's taken Kathy Griffin a few years to live this down...

[Busterscruggs]

9. Oh no!

I hadn't been aware of any of this. Kathy has always been a huge inspiration to me and her wonderful sense of humor has been a way to brighten my day if I'm feeling down. I hope she recovers and keeps creating

[Rhiannon12866]

11. Well, she obviously got in big trouble for this, she was blacklisted after that

Here's the story of how it happened:

Kathy Griffin: Life After The Trump Severed Head Controversy
https://www.npr.org/2019/04/23/716258113/kathy-griffin-life-after-the-trump-severed-head-controversy

[Ray Bruns]

12. Why are his eyes pointing in different directions?

Most hideous statues I have ever seen. Like something out of the twilight zone.

[The Jungle 1]

14. How did this even happen

Why did we allow the south to celebrate their treason?
Lee should have hung at Appomattox. Davis also should have been hung.
These two men caused mass death and destruction.

Let's go SCOTUS!

[Rhiannon12866]

16. Sounds like you've read Mary Trump's second book.

That's exactly what she said since that was the punishment for treason at the time. But instead, Lee's descendants were compensated for part of his land - which is now Arlington National Cemetery. And to add insult to injury for the descendants of former slaves and those who lost family members who served in the Union Army, in 1975 President Gerald Ford restored Lee's citizenship and the next year President Jimmy Carter (of all presidents!) restored Jefferson Davis's citizenship! And President Ford was honored by the Kennedy Center (Caroline Kennedy spoke) for his actions.

[The Jungle 1]

17. I have not read her book yet. I guess I should.

I have been saying these things for years.
I have ended many arguments over the statues and that stinking flag by simply pointing out that what the south did was treason. I do not celebrate treason.
So again I do not understand how this country allowed treason to be celebrated for years.
I did not know that those two scum had their citizenship restored. I sure do not understand why Carter was involved.
All I can say is we have spent way to much time trying to appease the south. Appeasement has been a failure. Time to push!