http://www.reuters.com/article/us-dallas-statue/dallas-removes-robert-e-lees-statue-from-city-park-idUSKCN1BQ07Z
A well-known Dallas park looks quite different since last Thursday. While police stood guard, Dallas city workers worked for four hours to remove a 14-foot statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from the park near downtown that is named after the general. The statue has been a part of the Dallas landscape since 1936 when President Roosevelt dedicated the statue at the park. The removal comes after much national debate over whether such Confederate monuments symbolize honoring history or injustice. Supporters of the removal of Confederate statues argue that the monuments represent slavery and racial inequality. Others see the monuments as symbols of American history and honoring soldiers who died in the Civil War. The controversy over various American Civil War memorials across the country began one month ago when white-supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia protested the removal of a Lee statue in the town. Counter-protesters confronted the white-supremacists which led to one death. Prior to the Charlottesville tragedy, tensions were already rising after nine African-Americans were murdered by a white supremacist in a Charleston, South Carolina church in 2015. The city of Dallas will look to a task force to determine the fate of the removed Dallas statue as well as the naming rights of the park. For now, an empty platform remains at the Robert E. Lee park where the 6-ton statue once stood for 81 years.
The removal of the Robert E. Lee statue will likely impact history by paving the way for the removal of more monuments across the country. Prior to the removal in Dallas, Confederate monuments have also been removed in New Orleans and Baltimore. Pressure from civil rights groups have increased and the push to remove Confederate monuments have gained momentum as cities across the nation respond to groups who are for and against the monuments. The recent removal in Dallas is just the beginning of this national controversy.
I support the removal of these confederate monuments, especially ones that remind us of years of oppression. I still believe that knowing about the history is important but i do not think that there should be honorable statues of people who have done terrible things.
ReplyDeleteThe statues are symbols of bigotry and hate. The people represented in the statues fought for slavery and tried to tear apart the country. Why would anyone think it is a good idea to keep them up?
ReplyDelete