Smashing Statues, Seeding Strife
By Moon
Of Alabama
August
16, 2017 "Information
Clearing House"
- In
the aftermath of competing protests in
Charlottesville a wave of dismantling of
Confederate statues is on the rise. Overnight
Baltimore
took down four
Confederate statues. One of these honored
Confederate soldiers and sailors, another one
Confederate women. Elsewhere statues were
toppled or defiled.
The Charlottesville conflict itself was about
the intent to dismantle a statue of General
Robert E. Lee, a commander of the Confederate
forces during the American Civil War. The
activist part of the political right protested
against the take down, the activist part of the
political left protested against those protests.
According to a number of witnesses
quoted in the
LA Times sub-groups on both sides came prepared
for and readily engaged in violence.
In 2003 a
U.S.
military tank pulled down the statue of Saddam
Hussein
on Firdos Square in Baghdad. Narrowly shot TV
picture made it look as if a group of Iraqis
were doing this. But they were mere actors
within
a U.S. propaganda show.
Pulling down the statue demonstrated a lack of
respect towards those who had fought under,
worked for or somewhat supported Saddam Hussein.
It helped to incite the resistance against the
U.S. occupation.
The right-wing nutters who, under U.S.
direction, forcefully toppled the legitimate
government of Ukraine
pulled down
hundreds of the remaining Lenin statues in the
country. Veterans who fought under the Soviets
in the second world war
took this as a
sign of disrespect. Others saw this as an attack
on their fond memories of better times and
protected them.
The forceful erasement of history further split
the country:
“It’s
not like if you go east they want Lenin but
if you go west they want to destroy him,”
Mr. Gobert said. “These differences don’t
only go through geography, they go through
generations, through social criteria and
economic criteria, through the urban and the
rural.”
Statues
standing in cities and places are much more than
veneration of one person or group. They are
symbols, landmarks and fragments of personal
memories:
“One
guy said he didn’t really care about Lenin,
but the statue was at the center of the
village and it was the place he kissed his
wife for the first time,” Mr. Gobert said.
“When the statue went down it was part of
his personal history that went away.”
(People
had better sex under socialism.
Does not Lenin deserves statues if only for
helping that along?)
Robert
Lee was a brutal man who fought for racism and
slavery. But there are few historic figures
without fail. Did not George Washington "own"
slaves? Did not Lyndon B. Johnson lie about the
Gulf of Tonkin incident and launched an unjust
huge war against non-white people under false
pretense? At least some people will think of
that when they see their statues. Should those
also be taken down?
As time passes the meaning of a monument
changes. While it may have been erected with a
certain ideology or concept
in mind, the
view on it will change over time:
[The
Charlottesville statue] was unveiled by
Lee’s great-granddaughter at a ceremony in
May 1924. As was the custom on these
occasions it was accompanied by a parade and
speeches. In the dedication address, Lee was
celebrated as a hero, who embodied “the
moral greatness of the Old South”, and as a
proponent of reconciliation between the two
sections. The war itself was remembered as a
conflict between “interpretations of our
Constitution” and between “ideals of
democracy.”
The white racists who came to "protect" the
statue in Charlottesville will hardly have done
so in the name of reconciliation. Nor will those
who had come to violently oppose them. Lee was a
racist. Those who
came to "defend" the statue were mostly "white
supremacy" racists. I am all for protesting
against them.
But the issue here is bigger. We must not forget
that statues have multiple meanings and
messages. Lee was also the man who
wrote:
No
Advertising
- No
Government
Grants
-
This
Is
Independent
Media
|
What a cruel thing is war: to separate and
destroy families and friends, and mar the
purest joys and happiness God has granted us
in this world; to fill our hearts with
hatred instead of love for our neighbors,
and to devastate the fair face of this
beautiful world.
That
Lee was a racist does not mean that his statue
should be taken down. The park in
Charlottesville, in which the statue stands, was
recently renamed from Lee Park into Emancipation
Park. It makes sense to keep the statue there to
reflect on the contrast between it and the new
park name.
Old
monuments and statues must not (only) be seen as
glorifications within their time. They are
reminders of history. With a bit of education
they can become valuable occasions of
reflection.
George
Orwell wrote in his book 1984: “The most
effective way to destroy people is to deny and
obliterate their own understanding of their
history.” People do not want to be destroyed.
They will fight against attempts to do so.
Taking down monuments or statues without a very
wide consent will split a society. A large part
of the U.S. people voted for Trump. One gets the
impression that the current wave of statue take
downs is seen as well deserved "punishment" for
those who voted wrongly - i.e. not for Hillary
Clinton. While many Trump voters will dislike
statues of Robert Lee, they will understand that
dislike the campaign to take them down even
more.
That
may be the intend of some people behind the
current quarrel. The radicalization on opposing
sides may have a purpose. The Trump camp can use
it to cover up its plans to further
disenfranchise they people. The fake Clintonian
"resistance" needs these cultural disputes to
cover for its lack of political resistance to
Trump's plans.
Anyone
who wants to stoke the fires with this issue
should be careful what they wish for.
This article was first published by
Moon Of Alabama
-
The
views expressed in this article are solely those
of the author and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of Information Clearing House.