“You’re not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it. ”
– Malcolm X
As a Southerner and a history buff, it has been interesting to watch the protests (and protests of the protests) of the removal of Confederate leaders’ statues that the tragic rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, kicked off. Of course the statues should be removed. Not only because the South lost the war, but because slavery was the primary reason for the War Between the States, though many want to “whitewash” that truth. Any public image of a Confederate leader is simply advocating slavery.
Few, if any, protested when the legendary football coach Joe Paterno’s statue was removed from Penn State University’s campus.
Stone Mountain, a magnificent granite outcropping just outside Atlanta, boasts an enormous bas relief sculpture of three Confederate leaders on the face of the mountain, similar to Mount Rushmore. This artwork spans the size of a football field, was quite a feat of accomplishment, and several men fell to their deaths while sculpting it. While it is spectacular in its artistry, it is literally a larger-than-life reminder of a time when people were owned. And while it may be difficult to re-sculpt or somehow cover this enormous piece, we must do so, for the KKK was born on top of this mountain.
This is hardly deleting or rewriting history. Removing symbols of oppression and hatred is putting it in its proper perspective and place: in the past, in books, and movies where we can contain and educate, not model or celebrate what they stood for.
Our Jewish friends have the right answer: “Never forget.” They preserve accounts and memorabilia of a horrific chapter in history in museums and libraries where people can go to learn; nor do the Germans leave offensive symbols and images on public display as reminders of “the good ole days.” Let us learn from history, not place on pedestals insulting reminders that can be mistaken by some as tacit permission to hate.
“Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men’s skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact.”
– Lyndon B. Johnson