Monumental Decisions (2)

The title of this blog article includes (2) because in August 2017 I posted an article using the same two words (see here). I ended that post with this statement, “Maybe the time has come just to make decisions that will rid our nation of monuments honoring the racism of the past.” Now I think that is definitely the case.

Necessary Decisions

From the U.S. Congress down through state and city legislatures, decisions must be made now about what to do with monuments, statues, and names honoring people intimately connected with the racist past of this country.

Earlier this month, Speaker of the House Pelosi called for the removal of 11 sculptures in the Capitol, for they all have definite Confederate ties. (Here is the list of those sculptures.) This seems to be the right place to start in making decisions to rid the nation of the commemoration of its persistent racism.  

Lee statue in Richmond, Va.

On state levels, monumental decisions also need to be made, as was done in Virginia with regards to the imposing statue of Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Richmond. Here is the link to an informative article about taking down that and other monuments in what was once the capital of the Confederate States of America. 

On the city level, there are also important decisions to be made. In Kansas City, the central issue is not of a monument but of a fountain. The J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain stands in a prominent place near the Country Club Plaza.

Today (June 30) the KC Parks and Recreation Board of Commissioners will be deciding whether to recommend the removal of the current name, for J.C. Nichols was not only a brilliant businessman and developer of Kansas City—and Johnson County, Kansas—but also the instigator of redlining and a clear malefactor of African Americans in the city.

Wrongheaded Decisions

In my “Celebrating Juneteenth” blog post, I averred that racist monuments should be removed in a legal and orderly manner, not by “lynching.” (I used that highly fraught word metaphorically with the broad meaning of “premeditated extrajudicial killing by a group.”)

So, yes, the rash decisions of anti-racists to unlawfully deface or destroy monuments are wrongheaded, most likely hurting their cause far more than helping it.

But is it not also wrongheaded for DJT to seemingly be more interested in punishing the anti-racists (“10 year prison sentences!) than in dealing in constructive ways with the racism that has spurred the defacing or toppling of statues?

Further, the decisions of legislators to do little, if anything, now are also wrongheaded.

For example, Sen. McConnell recently rejected efforts to remove Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol building, calling House Speaker Pelosi’s efforts to remove the 11 sculptures with Confederate ties “nonsense” and an effort to “airbrush the Capitol and scrub out everybody from years ago who had any connection to slavery.”

Missouri Senator Roy Blunt also opposed the efforts of House Democrats to remove those offensive statues—and was denounced by a sharp 6/22 op-ed piece in The Kansas City Star. 

Desired Decisions

Removing offending monuments, statues, or names does not erase history. Those acts, whether done by legislative decisions or rash, wrongheaded decisions of angry protesters, are simply removing the honor and prestige given to those men of the past who advocated or perpetuated an unjust social system.

There is good reason, and ample opportunity, to learn about those men of the past (and note that there seem to be no objectionable monuments/statues of women) in history books and in museums.

So, let’s support and actively advocate for the swift removal of monuments and other public acclaim of historical figures who were promoters of white supremacy to the great detriment of people of color in this country.

Those are the decisions strongly desired by those who have suffered, and are suffering, from the bitter poison of racism and by those of us who seek to be their allies.

*****

For those who are interested in my 8/17 blog article about the monument in Brandenburg, Kentucky, here is an update from activities there this month as reported by Newsweek. Sixty years ago (!) I was the pastor of a nearby church; I wonder what I would say and do if I were the pastor there today.

Monumental Decisions

“A 121-year-old Confederate monument came down. This Kentucky town put it back up.” That was the title of the top story on the front page of the Aug. 21 Washington Post. I read that article with great interest, for I used to live near that Kentucky town.

Controversy over Confederate Monuments

The violent incidents in Charlottesville, Vir., on Aug. 11-12 at the Unite the Right rally have greatly heightened the debate concerning Confederate monuments and statues in the U.S.

That rally, as most of you know, was held in opposition to the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee. It was erected in 1924 in a Charlottesville city park, which was subsequently named Lee Park.

In the first week of June this year, Lee Park’s name was changed to Emancipation Park. The rally in Charlottesville was in protest against the announced plan to remove the statue of Lee from the park.

The drama in that Virginia city is linked to the strong movement across the U.S. to remove Confederate flags, statues, and monuments from public places. That movement gained considerable strength following the tragic June 2015 shooting in the African-American church in Charleston, S.C.

Moving the Louisville Monument

The Confederate Monument in Louisville was a 70-foot-tall monument that was erected in 1895 on the campus of the University of Louisville. It was designed to commemorate the sacrifice of Confederate veterans who died in the Civil War.

During the last two months of 2016, the Louisville monument was moved to Brandenburg, Ky., an Ohio River town about 45 miles west of Louisville. Some 400 people attended the rededication ceremony, held on Memorial Day this year.

Brandenburg is the seat of Meade County, a small county of just over 28,000 people, predominantly white. Slightly over 4% were African-American according to the 2010 census. Meade Co. is also Trump country: nearly 71% voted for him in 2016.

The Monument at Brandenburg

From 1959 to 1963 June and I, along with our small children, lived in Ekron, a very small town less than seven miles from Brandenburg. We fairly often had picnics on the bank of the Ohio River, not far from where the Confederate monument is now located.

That was long before the bridge was built across the river, which you can see in the lower right corner of the following picture of the relocated monument. 

Debra Masterson, an assistant at the Meade County Chamber of Commerce, was one who worked to get the monument moved to Brandenburg. When her “boss” began to express misgivings, Masterson said. “You’re thinking, ‘What if people are talking about Brandenburg as KKK, as racists?’ Well, I don’t know any racists!”

Well, I don’t know much about Meade County now and have little remaining contact with the dear people we were so close to 55 years ago. But I know there were racists in Meade County, and in Ekron Baptist Church of which I was pastor, back then.

In another article (see here) I have given specific examples regarding the racism I experienced there. Suffice it to say here that while the schools were integrated then, there was strong de facto segregation in the local communities and sometimes expressions overt racism, perhaps especially in the churches.

States, cities, schools, etc. now have monumental decisions to make about what to do with existing Confederate monuments and memorials of all sorts. 

Moving such monuments/statues from cities with a sizeable percentage of African-Americans (such as Louisville) to predominantly white towns (such as Brandenburg) is probably not a helpful solution to the problem.

Maybe the time has come just to make decisions that will rid our nation of monuments honoring the racism of the past.