It is time to remove and destroy all heroic statuary that celebrates

[MineralMan]

the Confederacy. The time is long past when such symbols should remain on display. The Confederacy should have ended forever after the last battle of the Civil War. To allow it to continue to exist in the minds of bigots and racists is obscene.

Pull down the statues. Break them into marble chips or melt down the bronze and cast new statues that symbolize peace and equality. There is no longer any justification for celebrating insurrection and civil war. There has not been such justification since the late 19th century.

Enough! Destroy them all.

[C_U_L8R]

1. Tear that shit down

It's not history, it's hate

[dalton99a]

2. Recycle them as sewer covers

[MineralMan]

5. Bronze is better used for statuary, or perhaps as part of

an alloy for casting bells. Sewer covers are normally made of cast iron.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. I don't agree that they should be destroyed.

The Civil War is part of our history, and I don't like the idea of destroying relics of history, even bad ones. I think the statues and monuments should be removed from public places and moved, if possible, to a Civil War museum, which should probably be in Washington, D.C. There are other museums that commemorate bad events so people don't forget them or how they came about (the Holocaust Museum is a prime example of this).

Most of the statutes are of people who were important figures in the war. Putting these statutes in a museum would preserve their historical significance without making it possible for white supremacists and the like to use them as gathering points or symbols of their ideology.

[leftstreet]

7. +1

[HopeAgain]

8. B.S. Most were erected by the Klan or during desegregation.

They have no historic value whatsoever.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. If they have no historical value they wouldn't qualify

for preservation. But who should decide?

[HopeAgain]

13. No-one. Get rid of them all.

They don't provide any historical insights, they celebrate men who fought to preserve the institution of slavery.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. But how far does that go?

Should all portraits of confederate government and military figures be removed from existing museums and destroyed? There are also thousands of photographs; do those go into the bonfire, too? Germany bans the public display of Nazi flags and symbols, but I don't think they have obliterated all evidence of their existence, nor should they. I'm all in favor of removing statues and monuments from public places where they could be used as symbols by white supremacy groups, but destroying evidence about these men makes it too easy to forget how the Civil War came about.

[HopeAgain]

17. I am not talking about artifacts.

These are statues that were all erected after the war, mostly in the last century. I don't need to see them to know that reconstruction was an abject failure. If we lose a very few older ones, so be it.

[flamingdem]

18. +1

[cwydro]

23. I agree.

I'm a huge history buff. You can't rewrite history. A museum is a good idea.

Most of these morons probably don't even know the dates of the Civil War

[HopeAgain]

32. Dates of the Civil War:

1861-65.

Dates of desegregation when most the Statutes were erected: 1961-68.

[cwydro]

35. Yes, I know the dates.

I just would bet most of these idiots don't.

[HopeAgain]

36. My point was these statues were about desegregation not the war.

[cwydro]

37. Umm, we'll have to disagree on that one.

But I do see your point.

[Not Ruth]

4. Someday, this will also be the case with the GOP; i.e. modern day Confederacy

[MineralMan]

6. It can't come too soon.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

9. Why didn't the city of Charlottesville go ahead remove the statue & not drag us into this disaster?

The city has a poor sense of taking reasonable and prompt actions to avoid polarizing by doing right thing in a timely manner

[MineralMan]

10. I believe that city's plan to remove the statue was

the trigger for this chain of events. I assume the city still plans to remove it.

[CottonBear]

11. New Orleans had to remove monuments under cover of darkness

and in secrecy to avoid Nazi violence.

[HopeAgain]

14. There are no statues of Rommel...

Don't need them to understand what happened in WWII. Should be the same for our Civil War.

[Sedona]

16. What are we supposed to do about this piece of shit?

It's ten miles from my home.


?itok=4jorruBM

[bluecollar2]

19. sorry but

What is it?

[MineralMan]

24. It's Stone Mountain, in Georgia.

The figures are those of Confererate Army leaders. Sadly, someone defaced an amazing geological feature to celebrate losing a war to preserve slavery. More's the pity.

[HAB911]

27. Stone Mountain Georgia

I grew up within site of it from my front yard

http://www.stonemountainpark.com/

[MineralMan]

21. I have no idea. That someone defaced that majestic

stone monolith is obscene. That the defacing involves Confederate leaders just makes it worse.

[struggle4progress]

41. Update it!

[Blue_true]

20. I grew up in a conservative southern town.

The town elders chased away the klan when doing so was dangerous. We have no stature of confederates anywhere. We do have jerkwads that drive around with confederate decals on their vehicles, but we have no official recognition of the confederacy. I always thought that was strange, but now view it as good decisionmaking by past leaders.

[MineralMan]

25. Good for your community.

Seriously!

[HAB911]

22. Took some work but it's happening in Tampa

Hillsborough commission votes to move Tampa's Confederate monument to Brandon cemetery

http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/live-blog-most-speakers-tell-hillsborough-commissioners-the-confederate/2330879

[MineralMan]

28. Perhaps they can bury it there. That would work for me.

[X_Digger]

26. Yeah, no. Destroying art (even disgusting art) isn't something I can get behind.

Let it sit in a museum, or sell it to private collectors if no museum wants it.

Let it be yard art for some rich moron.

[cilla4progress]

29. I agree with the museum concept...

It would follow the idea of the Holocaust Memorial.. stand as testament and reminder...never again!

[MineralMan]

30. There is far too much Confederate-themed statuary for that.

There's no museum large enough to hold it all. Truly. Here's just a partial list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monuments_and_memorials_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America

[cilla4progress]

31. I am envisioning an outdoor

Area, as well. Can be in Richmond, for all I care.

[Vinca]

33. Bring back the naked Donald Trump statues!

[MineralMan]

34. Yes. Depicting the current President in statuary is always in good taste.

Indeed.

[Coventina]

38. No, no, no, a thousand times NO!

As an art historian, I beg you not to advocate for this.

I am all for removing them from places of honor, but PLEASE do not advocate destroying them.

Art works are important, even ones that we may find personally abhorrent. Once you open the door to destroying art, it is a very slippery slope to the ISIS type of destruction going on in Syria and Iraq.

Many ancient works of art were obliterated there. Artworks that glorified personalities far worse than the Confederacy ever dreamed.

You may try to throw false equivalency in my face, but really, it is the same thing. Artworks are a record of our past. They document a lot of things that are intangible in other media.

Put them in dusty museum basements, but please do not destroy them.

In Washington DC we have a large collection of Nazi inspired paintings (including watercolors done by Hitler himself). They are hidden away, but an important record of a movement that needs recording and continued study.

Please, please, please, never advocate for the destruction of art.

[PJMcK]

39. Get rid of the Confederate flag, too

That flag is the symbol of treason and anti-American philosophy. The people who rallied behind it were traitors to the values the United States is supposed to represent. It's an ugly reminder of the original sin and flaw of our Constitution and it needs to be designated as such.

Embarrass those who fly it. Ostracize those who wave it and claim "the South shall rise again." Denounce anyone who claims that it is a symbol of their "heritage."

[Voltaire2]

40. Did you just figure this out?

The effort to get rid of this shit has been going on for years and has been making a lot of progress.

[HeartachesNhangovers]

42. I disagree with trying to shame or force any group

to disavow what they consider to be part of their culture. It would be infinitely better if they - on their own - decided to move on and reject these divisive symbols and monuments. If it takes a few years or decades for that to happen, it would still be better if it happened as a genuine, autonomous act. When you force something like this, it just strengthens the siege mentality.