What do Robert E. Lee, Christopher Columbus, Miguel Cervantes, Fr. Junipero Serra, U. S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson have in common? They’re all of European descent, they represent received wisdom, and their statues have been defaced or removed by “demonstrators”. At Bloomberg Stephen L. Carter remarks:
But there’s a difference between, say, Ulysses Grant (his statue shamefully toppled in San Francisco), who whatever else he did pursued the Union cause with a vengeance, and the men who fought for the actual goal of preserving White supremacy.
As for George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, the case for leaving their statues in place is strong, because although they held slaves, the views they expressed about the practice tended to be in advance of the position of the nation at the time. (This doesn’t excuse either Washington’s brutal treatment of his captive workers or the viciousness of Jefferson’s comments on Black people in Notes on the State of Virginia.)
I agree broadly with those sentiments but I don’t think that Mr. Carter fully appreciates what’s happening. That lack of understanding is reflected in the rules he proposes for removing statues:
Rule Number 1: No statue is entitled to continue to exist merely because it exists now. The activists are right about this. Change in our decisions over whom to commemorate is often sensible.
[…]
Rule Number 2: In particular, what we should ask is whether the views of the person to whom objection is now being raised were above or below the median position held by people of the era. And if they were below, how far below did they lie?
As Jonathan Swift observed, it is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into. Reason has little to do with the paroxysms wracking our cities; emotion has everything to do with them. Reasonable plans and programs are not being put forward and they should not be expected. They are cris du coeur.
I think they’re a broad rejection of received wisdom per se. Away with all the old white guys! “OK, boomer” extended to all of history.
“Passion has helped us; but can do so no more. It will in future be our enemy. Reason, cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason, must furnish all the materials for our future support and defence.–Let those materials be moulded into general intelligence, sound morality, and in particular, a reverence for the constitution and laws.” (Lincoln, 1838)
Well, look at the bright side. At least the three very peaceful shootings in CHAZ have finally gotten the mayor’s attention. Sigh, endeth the summer of love……..
MLK statues will soon be on the chopping block because he was (A) a Republican and (B) he was an Uncle Tom who espoused non-violence. But you will never see any statues of Lenin, Marx, Sanger, or any other Leftist hero defaced much less toppled. Cuz They Was Purrfect!
Che, Fidel, Ortega, Mao, Uncle Ho, Pol Pot, freedom fighters.
Campus heroes.
Iconoclasm is of course the reason why there are Catholic and Orthodox branches of the Universal Church, thanks to the Muslims. You probably know the history behind it better than I.
“Passion has helped us; but can do so no more. It will in future be our enemy. Reason, cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason, must furnish all the materials for our future support and defence.–Let those materials be moulded into general intelligence, sound morality, and in particular, a reverence for the constitution and laws.†(Lincoln, 1838)
Once again, Abe was wrong.
“You are the children of Abraham Lincoln. We are at best only his step-children; children by adoption, children by forces of circumstances and necessity. To you it especially belongs to sound his praises, to preserve and perpetuate his memory, to multiply his statues, to hang his pictures high upon your walls, and commend his example, for to you he was a great and glorious friend and benefactor. Instead of supplanting you at his altar, we would exhort you to build high his monuments; let them be of the most costly material, of the most cunning workmanship; let their forms be symmetrical, beautiful, and perfect, let their bases be upon solid rocks, and their summits lean against the unchanging blue, overhanging sky, and let them endure forever!”
(Frederick Douglass, 1876, delivered at the unveiling of The Freedmen’s Monument in Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C.)
“Protesters Announce Plan to Take Down Emancipation Statue as DC Delegate Pushes for Removal” (June 24, 2020 Headline)
@icepick, as long as your not planning on torching the Hall of Presidents, my team of wide-awakes will stand down.