( “Well,” one meme seems to shout, “that’s like blaming a little Japanese child for Pearl Harbor.”). But statue removal is not “erasing history.” Of course, they have a history. The preservation of history is not the concern of these neo-Nazis and white nationalist groups: the … Statues are coming down in Mobile, New Orleans and Richmond -- not to mention Bristol, England -- because the truth is, a lot of people in those cities don’t want to see people who supported slavery honored with public monuments. Watch a Hurricane Harvey Survivor Find Out His Dad Survived the Storm . Removing statues like this is not about erasing history… Why yes to founders but no to Confederates? 5 min read. Would Sir like a seat for the car as well? Removing Statues, Erasing History Doesn't Cure Racism Police stand watch near the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in the center of Emancipation Park the day after the Unite the Right rally devolved into violence August 13, 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia. People of the United Kingdom: the time has come for you to kill your darlings. We do, however, have to live in the aftermath. Nonetheless, he believes that removing Confederate statues and memorials, often erected several decades after the Civil War is a way to … The removal of Confederate statues isn’t ahistorical, or erasing the remembrance of our past. Removing the statutes reflects a sea change in who we, as a society, honor. Is removing a statue erasing history? They provide us with information about the past that cannot be obtained in other ways. Several years ago, in one of D.C.’s largest suburbs in Arlington, Virginia, I came home to the cheerful apartment I shared with two fellow Southern women and I was surprised to see a new book positioned carefully … These resources are compiled, evaluated, compared, and contrasted with each other, and from them the historian — mixing in their understanding of the contexts in which the resources appeared — produces their interpretation of the event. There have been several letters to the editor about removing or nor removing statues and monuments related to the Confederacy or to individuals who held racist views. To remove a statue in this day and age is not close to “erasing history,” it is a contemporary decision to stop certain things being honoured going forward. To say this “erases history” is to miss the point. It is the difference between looking at a picture of water and drinking the water itself. Recall that 60 years ago a black person could not sit at a lunch counter, vote or marry a white person. Our willingness to take down racist traitors also signifies. It’s a way to honor the people whose families these figures fought to enslave; it’s a way to put a kinder foot forward and refuse to uplift figures who represent little more than racism, violence, and treason. History is, as the saying goes, “written by the winners.” The past is what we perceive it to be. (You may remember all this from school during a discussion of “primary vs. secondary sources.”). (Tim Bradbury / Getty Images) Vital Opinions by thevitalblog June 10, 2020 June 10, 2020. When we humans do bad things in large groups -- the way that our ancestors supported a government that defended or participated in slavery -- we are not to blame for their sins. August 30, 2017 . No. That does not even speak to the thousands of black people who were murdered in those public spectacles called lynchings. As for whether removing statues is erasing history - in many ways it is. That statue or that name are failing on their own to give you any sense of Dhan-Kampa’s life or the era in which she lived (well, the statue might provide a bit of a sense for the kinds of clothes that were worn when she was alive or even something of the amazing actions for which she is so justly famous). (May I propose a simple Test of Historical Erasure? It’s about who the society as a whole wants to venerate and honor in public places. … In doing this, we are not turning away from history. Shutting down classrooms, because teachers have the unparalleled ability to help students learn about and explore the past. So I believe we can stop suggesting that removing statues or renaming military bases is “erasing history.” They aren’t conveying historical knowledge in the first place, so there is no history there to be erased. Or you can see the issue in a broader historical scope and understand that slavery was a part of the economic system that enriched the British empire and the United States, and that we live with the effects of enslaving millions. What did they do? Critics of its removal used a specious argument of erasing history to defend its presence. The statues themselves don’t tell us much at all. You can romanticize the idea of slavery, talk about how the happy slaves just loved your ancestors who held them in bondage, dress up in Confederate uniforms and decry the tragedy of the Lost Cause. Colston made a fortune in the slave trade, something our tea-sipping English cousins might like to forget and foist only on the American South. Removing monuments from the public square is pulling it out of the public eye and trying to reduce its significance and recognition. While the governor of Virginia initiated plans to remove the statue, saying that the “divisive monument” … First, though, what is “history?” This is a large question and one that entire courses of study — and careers — are built on, but people generally use to the term to mean one of two things: A. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. A group of neo-Nazis who stormed the University of Virginia’s campus aimed to defend the statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, who led the traitorous army during the Civil War. At its core, we do it by examining original sources of information created during the events that we are studying: letters, diaries, manuscripts, newspaper articles, eyewitness accounts. … “Always” last about two generations. Email her at fcoleman1953@gmail.com and “like” her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/prfrances. 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