One step backwards, a few steps forward?
Sadly, in my hometown, the statue of Confederate Lt. General A.P. Stewart, defaced in recent protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd outside the Courthouse, will be restored and remain in place. As recently as 2017, in the midst of an effort to have it removed, county commissioners voted 6-2 to keep it.
In better news, the ginormous statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, long a source of pain to black residents of Richmond, Virginia and defaced in recent protests, will be REMOVED!!!! The irony that this move is led by the governor, a man only 5 years older than I, who somehow thought it was okay to be photographed, while in COLLEGE, in blackface with someone in KKK garb (or vice versa, since to my knowledge he has never admitted which role he took - as if that could slip your mind - though he has apologized) is not lost. Perhaps I should view this as a hopeful sign that people can learn and change rather than my more natural cynical view that this is token penance. Either way, I'll take it.
Also wafting forward with the more positive breeze, the monument to Confederate troops in Birmingham, AL was removed this week and the statue to Frank Rizza, the Police Commissioner and Mayor who effectively opposed desegregation from 1972-1980 is to be taken down in Philadelphia.
Slowly we change, but change we must. Now. What happened to #chattanoogastrong ?????? Hmmmm????? This breeze is but the quiet before the hurricane. A hurricane, that in this case we can prevent if we simply do what is right. Is the removal of a hurtful monument to the enslavement of our black friends and neighbors and the deaths of 750,000 Americans really that difficult? What are these monuments here to commemorate exactly? Think about it, Chattanooga. ~ les
