Lately there has been a slew of acts of “vandalism” aimed towards statues of confederate leaders and slave owners. And apparently there is some sort of controversy surrounding this? Fucking why?!
Maybe it’s because I grew up in the north, and was taught from a young age that owning (not to mention beating, raping, and killing) other human beings was bad, and that was one of the main sticking points of the Civil War. Maybe in the south they were taught a different story in 4th grade. Maybe it’s simply because I believe in social evolution.
History is important as a means for learning and growth. It’s fine to celebrate it as well. But once our growth yields new understanding about where we came from, we must accept it and change.
It’s like, when we’re children and we draw a picture of a purple dog with 5 legs and a giraffe neck, our parents congratulate us and put it up on the fridge. “Wow,” they say, “you’re such a good little artist!” But that picture will eventually be taken down and put in a box in the attic for you to find when your parents die, and you’re cleaning out the house so a new family can move in. You’ll blow the dust off that shitty drawing and chuckle to yourself about how silly it looks. And even though you never became a professional artist, you still understand that dogs are typically not purple, generally have four legs, and don’t have fucking long-ass necks. Then you throw that shit out because it holds absolutely no value, is mildly embarrassing, and you just don’t have room for it in your grown up life.
So where is the controversy about taking down these statues, or flags, or changing outdated names of teams and buildings. Who the fuck cares?! Like, what is your personal connection to these things?
I’m sure people will come up with false equivalencies like, “What if they start taking down Black monuments?” Well, first of all, now it’s being reduced to a race thing rather than a character thing. Secondly, if we learned that Joe Louis used his fist to beat up elderly people rather than defeat Nazi boxer, Max Schmeling, then I would support the removal of the iconic statue in downtown Detroit. I would also argue that his offense would be much less than FUCKING SLAVERY, you Hitler fuck boi.
The act of removing these statues is sparking a growth in our society. To the naked eye, it looks like it’s devolving, with race relations seemingly dwindling by the day. Part of that is the widespread media bukkake, and part of it is the crucible. For something strong to be forged, it must be subjected to extremely high temperatures. That’s what we’re experiencing right now. The issue is that we are not making this from scratch. We are not in the forging stage quite yet. Right now, we are in the process of melting down all the parts that no longer work so we can make something new to add on to the good we already have.
So discard your unwillingness to change. Stop holding on to meaningless icons and false beliefs. I’m not advocating that you go tear down a statue yourself, but you certainly shouldn’t “guard” it against those who wish to do so. And if you have the ability to officially remove a statue, know that you’re not deleting history, you’re making it.
Work crews removed a statue of Gen. Stonewall Jackson from its pedestal along Richmond, Virginia's famed Monument Avenue, just hours after the mayor ordered the removal of all Confederate statues from city land. https://t.co/ni7QZRgVVx pic.twitter.com/7WooBI4S6b
— ABC News (@ABC) July 2, 2020