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There are 1503 monuments in the south dedicated to confederate leaders. Ten US bases named for confederate officers - one that honours the leader of the KKK in Georgia.
Why then - if we are so interested in preserving history - do we not have statues abound of black liberation figures?
Read a very interesting tweet thread about this issue today and wanted to share it. Twitter - Link to full tweet thread
Vox - I'm a black Southerner. I had to go abroad to see a statue celebrating black liberation.
Many other countries have statues memorializing the victory of these slaves in their emancipation. These people, those who led slave revolts, those who were born slaves but died free men and women, were arguably amongst the bravest of Americans to have lived, quite literally fighting for freedom, not from taxation, like the founding fathers, but from a life of servitude.
So my question to you is, should we raise statues of free'd slaves? Should we replace confederate statues with them? Or should we put statues of slaves up alongside the confederate ones? Or should we not put statues of slaves up at all - in which case, if you are a proponent of keeping confederate statues - how genuine is your desire to 'preserve history' anyway?
The Guardian - America must build statues against slavery and racism. It can start with these.
Why then - if we are so interested in preserving history - do we not have statues abound of black liberation figures?
Read a very interesting tweet thread about this issue today and wanted to share it. Twitter - Link to full tweet thread
Matthew Chapman said:Here's the most outrageous part about people arguing Confederate statues should stay up to "remember our history and heritage".
When was the last time you ever saw a statue, a plaque, ANYTHING to honor the "history and heritage" of Black slaves in Antebellum?
Vox - I'm a black Southerner. I had to go abroad to see a statue celebrating black liberation.
Many other countries have statues memorializing the victory of these slaves in their emancipation. These people, those who led slave revolts, those who were born slaves but died free men and women, were arguably amongst the bravest of Americans to have lived, quite literally fighting for freedom, not from taxation, like the founding fathers, but from a life of servitude.
So my question to you is, should we raise statues of free'd slaves? Should we replace confederate statues with them? Or should we put statues of slaves up alongside the confederate ones? Or should we not put statues of slaves up at all - in which case, if you are a proponent of keeping confederate statues - how genuine is your desire to 'preserve history' anyway?
The Guardian - America must build statues against slavery and racism. It can start with these.
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