17th August 2017, 6:04 PM
(This post was last modified: 17th August 2017, 6:19 PM by A Black Falcon.)
True, but Neo-Nazi has a meaning that isn't just these people... but would "The New Nazi Right" be a better name? Or "The New American Nazi Threat"? There are so many possible titles...
It's great that these monuments are being removed, but as someone who cares a lot about history I don't like the idea of destroying them. One argument against them is that these are not statues put up shortly after the war, to directly commemorate it. Instead the statues that are getting the most attention are ones mostly put up in the early 20th century, as racist symbols of Jim Crow Southern oppression. Removing those symbols by taking those statues out of public squares and streets is great. People should not need to be reminded of that kind of oppression every time they walk down the street, and there is no other defense for having those statues there -- they fought for slavery, there is no defense like there is for Revolutionary War-era slaveowners we similarly honor -- and this is why the "but Washington will be next" argument is, I think, flawed. Yes, some people will say 'and Washington and Jefferson shouldn't be honored either', but they are not indelibly tied to the defense of slavery like Confederate figures are and that is a very important difference..
However, people saying that those statues should all be destroyed go way too far. Cultures throughout history have tried to erase people from history by scraping their names off of places it is written in stone, destroying statues, and the like, and I've never liked that, so I don't think that this is more okay just because these statues unquestionably honor something horrible. Put them in battlefield parks, cemeteries, historical societies, and the like; places where that kind of thing actually fits. Don't melt them down.
I know it is tricky though -- one the one hand it is important to remember history and not erase it, but on the other hand you don't want to create places where white nationalists will gather like they have been. If those statues were only in battlefield parks and historical societies and the like, would the new American Nazis be gathering there instead of in Charlottesville? Maybe then you could get rid of them, those people need to be stopped and providing such obvious places for them to gather is something that probably should be avoided. Despite that though I do think that it is important to remember history and not destroy monuments unless there is a very good reason for it.
There are more things beyond just statues to change, though. Flags are another important way many Southern states show their continued affection for slavery, for example. The Confederate battle flag is still right on the flag of one of our states, and that is horrible and very much needs to go! Though a lot of other Southern states have flags that heavily reference Confederacy-era designs in their flags; just because there isn't a stars-and-bars doesn't mean that flags aren't Confederate references, sadly. Georgia, for instance, replaced their old flag that had a big Confederate battle flag on it with a new one that's basically the Confederate national flag, but with the Georgia seal on it. So far states have gotten away with flags like those as the attention is all on the battle flag, but at some point this kind of thing needs to be changed as well.
It's great that these monuments are being removed, but as someone who cares a lot about history I don't like the idea of destroying them. One argument against them is that these are not statues put up shortly after the war, to directly commemorate it. Instead the statues that are getting the most attention are ones mostly put up in the early 20th century, as racist symbols of Jim Crow Southern oppression. Removing those symbols by taking those statues out of public squares and streets is great. People should not need to be reminded of that kind of oppression every time they walk down the street, and there is no other defense for having those statues there -- they fought for slavery, there is no defense like there is for Revolutionary War-era slaveowners we similarly honor -- and this is why the "but Washington will be next" argument is, I think, flawed. Yes, some people will say 'and Washington and Jefferson shouldn't be honored either', but they are not indelibly tied to the defense of slavery like Confederate figures are and that is a very important difference..
However, people saying that those statues should all be destroyed go way too far. Cultures throughout history have tried to erase people from history by scraping their names off of places it is written in stone, destroying statues, and the like, and I've never liked that, so I don't think that this is more okay just because these statues unquestionably honor something horrible. Put them in battlefield parks, cemeteries, historical societies, and the like; places where that kind of thing actually fits. Don't melt them down.
I know it is tricky though -- one the one hand it is important to remember history and not erase it, but on the other hand you don't want to create places where white nationalists will gather like they have been. If those statues were only in battlefield parks and historical societies and the like, would the new American Nazis be gathering there instead of in Charlottesville? Maybe then you could get rid of them, those people need to be stopped and providing such obvious places for them to gather is something that probably should be avoided. Despite that though I do think that it is important to remember history and not destroy monuments unless there is a very good reason for it.
There are more things beyond just statues to change, though. Flags are another important way many Southern states show their continued affection for slavery, for example. The Confederate battle flag is still right on the flag of one of our states, and that is horrible and very much needs to go! Though a lot of other Southern states have flags that heavily reference Confederacy-era designs in their flags; just because there isn't a stars-and-bars doesn't mean that flags aren't Confederate references, sadly. Georgia, for instance, replaced their old flag that had a big Confederate battle flag on it with a new one that's basically the Confederate national flag, but with the Georgia seal on it. So far states have gotten away with flags like those as the attention is all on the battle flag, but at some point this kind of thing needs to be changed as well.
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