What if we do take down the statues
of Washington and Jefferson? It is a popular retort for those defending the
monuments of the traitors that fought for the confederacy in the civil war to
ask where the line will be drawn and will you take down the Statues of our
nation’s founders?
Personally I do not want to take
down statues of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. It is easy for me to
see a distinction. On one side the people that built this country and expressed
their moral consternation over the issue of slavery. On the other, traitors who
fought to protect the institution of human bondage, taking up arms in insurrection
against their rightful government.
Thomas Jefferson famously said that
he did not believe that the living should be held in a tyranny of the dead. He
wanted our country to change, and be free to change. Today we freely express
how revolting slavery was. We openly debate whether someone can be a good person
if they ever owned slaves, no matter if they were only a product of their time.
The Confederate monuments were put
up during the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras. They were meant to intimidate
people of color and today remain as a touchstone for those who want to embolden
the cause of white supremacy. The monument to the “lost cause” and “Southern
Pride” only serve to whitewash white supremacy.
Washington and Jefferson planted
trees whose shade they would never enjoy. Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and
their confederates wanted to chop down those trees to continue their sins
against nature. If the process of liberating our society from memorializing
criminals is to take down all of the sinners, even our favorites, that’s the
price I’ll pay. Take the damn statues down.
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