Monuments, Symbols, and “Sensitivity”
I just found out that my friend Mary took down the photographs of her ex-husband Bill that were in her house . Now, I understand that Bill was a violent and abusive husband. He was always angry, couldn’t keep a job, was usually drunk, and brandished guns and knives constantly. I must admit that I feared for Mary’s life when they were married.
Nevertheless I argued, “Mary, why are you so overly sensitive? You can’t erase the past, and removing the pictures doesn’t change what happened. That wedding picture you destroyed was a work of art. You were both so elegant and the flowers were just gorgeous. Why remove it? After all, it’s a part of your life; don’t you think you should have kept it there as an historical lesson? Every day you walked by it, you’d remember it all.” Foolish Mary.
Similarly, the American revolutionaries made a tragic decision back in 1776 when they toppled the statue of King George III (and destroyed other British symbols). Instead of keeping the statue in New York to remind them of the colonial experience, they melted it down into musket balls, losing forever their history and heritage. Just because of their politically correct sensitivities, now nobody is even aware of the American Revolution, King George, or the lessons learned.
It’s just like the way the world has forgotten the Holocaust and WWII because of the removal of Hitler busts, Nazi flags, and swastikas in Germany. That was a big mistake. The poor Germans don’t have the benefit of seeing Nazi symbols in their cities.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee was also foolish when he opposed Confederate statues, flags, and uniforms after the civil war. Lee was just way too sensitive, I suppose, and probably didn’t have the slightest understanding of the significance of the war.
It’s often said that the Confederate monuments and flags are symbols of repugnant ideas and discredited ideology… and that monuments are inherently created to glorify or honor historical figures. Further, they argue, most of these monuments were built at the height of the KKK’s power and during the civil rights struggle. But these people don’t understand the real educational purpose of the monuments. When passers-by see these Confederate statues, it provokes a deep and productive dialog about the nature of constitutional principles, federalism, trade and tariffs, the evolution of political culture, the 14th Amendment, etc. Without monuments, how will the citizenry learn and democratically debate these important concepts? I mean, do you seriously expect them to read a book or something?
Yes, of course, some people take offense at reminders of slavery, cruelty, dehumanization, and oppression. While this may be, it’s not nearly as important as it is for the millions of Americans who sit in these parks daily to contemplate policy and history. What will they do once the monuments are all gone, and they have no way at all to learn the lessons of the past? How will they learn of the “violence on many sides”? For that matter, who is considering the rights of the pigeons?
