{"id":583,"date":"2018-04-09T18:55:52","date_gmt":"2018-04-09T18:55:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/amst-mpp\/?p=583"},"modified":"2018-04-16T21:00:10","modified_gmt":"2018-04-16T21:00:10","slug":"to-be-or-not-to-be-a-timeline-of-the-debate-over-confederate-monuments-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/amst-mpp\/2018\/04\/09\/to-be-or-not-to-be-a-timeline-of-the-debate-over-confederate-monuments-in-america\/","title":{"rendered":"To Be or Not To Be; A Timeline Of The Debate Over Confederate Monuments in America"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- iframe plugin v.4.5 wordpress.org\/plugins\/iframe\/ -->\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/cdn.knightlab.com\/libs\/timeline3\/latest\/embed\/index.html?source=1CycO7XxxmPruH6jSoeaaq1e8uEoUqXcPuSGSd9d-Vr8&#038;font=Default&#038;lang=en&#038;initial_zoom=2&#038;height=650\" width=\"100%\" height=\"650\" 0=\"webkitallowfullscreen\" 1=\"mozallowfullscreen\" 2=\"allowfullscreen\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\"><\/iframe>\n\n<p>This timeline examines the historical past and present events surrounding Confederate Monuments. On August 11<sup>th<\/sup>and 12<sup>th<\/sup>of 2017, a rally occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia which would spark a movement that continues to impact the concept of public space and public monuments throughout the United States and even in the international sphere. This rally was in opposition to the city of Charlottesville\u2019s previous decision to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee and rename the Lee Park (where the statue was located) to Emancipation Park. The individuals who were against the removal of the statue were members of the white supremacy and Neo-Nazi [1] movements and felt that removing this statue and others around the nation was disrupting history and paying poor homage to a Civil War \u2018hero.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Monuments carry a deep connection with history and memory. History and memory are not synonymous. This is demonstrated through the Confederate monuments that we see throughout the United States. A majority of the Confederate monuments were built during the Jim Crow Era [4]. This was post-Civil War during Reconstruction when white Southerners specifically struggled to find their new place in society since they no longer held power over black individuals after emancipation. Groups such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy, who hoped to preserve the image of their relatives\u2013husbands, sons, fathers, and grandfathers\u2013who fought under the Confederate flag. Although, this creation of monuments today is seen as an attempt to maintain the white supremacy of the \u2018Old South\u2019 when slavery existed and there was a clear social hierarchy. Many believe that for these reasons, the statues should be removed since they do not memorialize people who hold the current values of our nation.<\/p>\n<p>Our current President Donald Trump, took to Twitter to announce his beliefs on the matter surrounding Charlottesville and beyond. He stated \u201cSad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments,\u201d as well as \u201cYou can\u2019t change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson \u2013 who\u2019s next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish! Also the beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be comparably replaced!\u201d [5]. This statement demonstrates that every individual places different values on these spaces and places that we erect in order to honor the past. That the question of whether or not we Confederate heroes and ideals should be celebrated in our culture or not is at the forefront of this debate and also whether these statues and memorials represent an extreme form of veiled racism. There are three ways in which these monuments can be evaluated on whether they are racist or not first, it depends on who the monument represents, second, it depends on what aspect of the individual is being celebrated and finally, the intentions of those who created or sponsored it must come to the foreground [6]. Monuments overall carry a remarkable amount of symbolism and I included a few examples of different types of monuments that do not have to do with the Civil War Era. These examples are Devil\u2019s Tower, which is a natural national monument in Wyoming which is held by the National Park Service and is among many national monuments that are naturally created and recognized. Additionally, I incorporated the Rocky Statue and what it means and represents for the city of Philadelphia, it is a fictional character who has been amplified into this image of the city and one of the largest attractions in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n<p>Monuments are personal in many ways and despite the fact that they commonly rest in public spaces, they are left to the interpretation of the individual. For this reason, the debate over Confederate monuments will continue to boil. Something that I may view as racist and a celebration of a disjointed time in our country\u2019s history, one may see as a removal of Southern heritage and disrespectful towards their memory. As the debate continues it will be interesting to see what happens to these monuments and the spaces that they used to occupy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Works Cited<\/p>\n<p>[1] Fortin, Jacey. &#8220;The Statue at the Center of Charlottesville\u2019s Storm.&#8221;\u00a0<em>The New York Times<\/em>\u00a0(2017).<\/p>\n<p>[2] Winberry, John J. &#8220;&#8221; Lest We Forget&#8221;: The Confederate monument and the Southern townscape.&#8221;\u00a0<em>Southeastern Geographer<\/em>\u00a023, no. 2 (1983): 107-121.<\/p>\n<p>[3] Nora, Pierre. &#8220;Between memory and history: Les lieux de m\u00e9moire.&#8221;\u00a0<em>Representations<\/em>\u00a0(1989): 7-24.<\/p>\n<p>[4] Valentino, Nicholas A., and David O. Sears. &#8220;Old times there are not forgotten: Race and partisan realignment in the contemporary South.&#8221;\u00a0<em>American Journal of Political Science<\/em>49, no. 3 (2005): 672-688.<\/p>\n<p>[5] Julia Zorthian. \u201cPresident Trump Says It&#8217;s &#8216;Sad&#8217; to See U.S. Culture &#8216;Ripped Apart&#8217; by Removing Confederate Statues.\u201d Time. (August 17, 2017)<\/p>\n<p>[6] Demetriou, Dan, and Ajume Wingo. &#8220;The Ethics of Racist Monuments.&#8221; (2018).<\/p>\n<p>[7] Hamilton, Annette. &#8220;Monuments and memory.&#8221;\u00a0<em>Continuum<\/em>\u00a03, no. 1 (1990): 101-114.<\/p>\n<p>[8]Burling, Elizabeth J. &#8220;Policy Strategies for Monuments and Memorials.&#8221; (2005).<\/p>\n<p>[9] Shelton, Hal T.\u00a0<em>General Richard Montgomery and the American Revolution: From Redcoat to Rebel<\/em>. Vol. 29. NYU Press, 1994.<\/p>\n<p>[10] Channing, Steven A.\u00a0<em>Crisis of Fear: Secession in South Carolina<\/em>. No. 730. WW Norton &amp; Company, 1974.<\/p>\n<p>[11] Architect of the Capital. National Statuary Hall Collection. https:\/\/www.aoc.gov\/the-national-statuary-hall-collection<\/p>\n<p>[12] Lazarus, Emma, and Valenti Angelo.\u00a0<em>The new colossus<\/em>. Project Gutenberg, 1949.<\/p>\n<p>[13] Cox, Karen Lynne. &#8220;Women, the Lost Cause, and the New South: The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the transmission of Confederate culture, 1894-1919.&#8221; (1997).<\/p>\n<p>[14] Cross, Raymond, and Elizabeth Brenneman. &#8220;Devils Tower at the Crossroads: The National Park Service and the Preservation of Native American Cultural Resources in the 21st Century.&#8221;\u00a0<em>Pub. Land &amp; Resources L. Rev.<\/em>\u00a018 (1997): 5.<\/p>\n<p>[15] Vanderslice, John Mitchell.\u00a0<em>Gettysburg: A History of the Gettysburg Battle-field Memorial Association, with an Account of the Battle<\/em>. Memorial association, 1897.<\/p>\n<p>[16] Sandage, Scott A. &#8220;A marble house divided: The Lincoln Memorial, the civil rights movement, and the politics of memory, 1939-1963.&#8221;\u00a0<em>The Journal of American History<\/em>\u00a080, no. 1 (1993): 135-167.<\/p>\n<p>[17] Adam Raymond. <em>A Running List of Confederate Monuments Removed Across the <\/em>Country. New York Magazine (August 2017) http:\/\/nymag.com\/daily\/intelligencer\/2017\/08\/running-list-of-confederate-monuments-that-have-been-removed.html<\/p>\n<p>[18] Chris Kahn. <em>A majority of Americans want to preserve Confederate monuments: Reuters\/Ipsos poll<\/em>. Reuters (August 21, 2017)https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-protests-poll\/a-majority-of-americans-want-to-preserve-confederate-monuments-reuters-ipsos-poll-idUSKCN1B12EG<\/p>\n<p>[19] Matthew Watkins. <em>UT-Austin removes Confederate statues in the middle of the night.<\/em>Texas Tribune (August 20, 2017).https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2017\/08\/20\/ut-austin-removing-confederate-statues-middle-night\/<\/p>\n<p>[20] Frank Heinz. <em>Six Flags Over Texas Removes Confederate, Other Historic Flags From Park<\/em>. NBC Dallas-Fort Worth (August 18, 2017) https:\/\/www.nbcdfw.com\/news\/local\/Six-Flags-Over-Texas-Removes-Confederate-Flags-From-Park-441026123.html<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This timeline examines the historical past and present events surrounding Confederate Monuments. On August 11thand 12thof 2017, a rally occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia which would spark a movement that continues to impact the concept of public space and public monuments throughout the United States and even in the international sphere. This rally was in opposition &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/amst-mpp\/2018\/04\/09\/to-be-or-not-to-be-a-timeline-of-the-debate-over-confederate-monuments-in-america\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;To Be or Not To Be; A Timeline Of The Debate Over Confederate Monuments in America&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1719,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/amst-mpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/amst-mpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/amst-mpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/amst-mpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1719"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/amst-mpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/amst-mpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":722,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/amst-mpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583\/revisions\/722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/amst-mpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/amst-mpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/amst-mpp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}