In Defense of Controversial Monuments

[brother_dour]

Alabama recently passed a law sponsored by Senator Gerald Allen (R) making it illegal to remove controversial monuments. Allen says, “Contrary to what its detractors say, the Memorial Preservation Act is intended to preserve all of Alabama’s history - the good and the bad - so our children and grandchildren can learn from the past to create a

Comments

[oportet]

if public opinion were a consideration, then the entire idea of historic preservation becomes vulnerable to abuse

That's the key - but how do you keep the public out of it? Hundreds of millions of us have appointed ourselves devil's advocate for any and every situation - and we take 'no' as an answer about as good as your typical 2 year old.

As for Alabama - like much of the south - I think the number of our Confederate monuments along with our obsession with the Civil War is a little exaggerated by those who aren't here, and who likely haven't been here.

Confederate flags don't line the streets. Slavery isn't glorified. (Also, it isn't a non-stop orgy with our siblings and cousins, and we even have 'lectricity - just like y'all do out yonder).

I'm surrounded by historical markers - the typical one is 'This many people died defending this battery on this date' or 'Holtzclaw took a nap and a shit under this tree on this date'. Vital to remembering our history? Maybe. Threatening, hateful? I don't see it.

[brother_dour]

Historic preservation is a funny thing. Most people don't give much thought about it until it is brought to their attention. Using my example about the threatened building, people could walk past the hypothetical building a dozen times and give zero damns, but they become instant preservationists as soon as anyone talks about tearing it down. Or it could go in reverse: "That thing's an eyesore. It's about time someone tore it down!" Never mind that it was where Alexander Graham Bell had his first laboratory or something. Ad hoc opinions abound, one way or another

[johnny9fingers]

Winnie was a racist. So were almost all of his European and American contemporaries