I think it should be taken on a case to case basis. I.E. in the case of Yale's Calhoun college VP Calhoun was a vocal supporter of slavery. In the college there were stained glass windows depicting slaves picking cotton apparently in praise of Calhoun's beliefs. There was a black worker who was so annoyed with looking at those windows every day that he smashed one. Yale fired him but quickly buckled to public pressure and re-hired him. The question then becomes how do we balance keeping history without making a hostile environment? IMHO Yale should not have re-hired them employee who broke the window because he could have made Yale aware of his feelings and had them taken down. If they declined then he could go to the NAACP and the MSM and complain and they most certainly would have done something.True Story:My sisters ex husbands family was from the south. She's down there on vacation at a family picnic when one of her husbands family members regales her with the story of how during Sherman's March they had to hide the family silver by burying it. This was no doubt done simply because she's a Yankee and the're still pissed at Yankee'sMy sisters listening to this and thinking how people were enslaved,beaten,killed and endured horrible conditions and these idiots were still going on about some fucking 150 year old silver flatware?
I'm surprised my sister held her tongue; but this is how ingrained this BS is in the south. Southerners still hate Yankee's not because of any ancestral connection to the Civil War but simply from being raised Southern. I'll bet a good portion of Southerns who hate Yankee's didn't even have family in this country until the late 1800's and early 1900's well after the war ended and yet they spout their crap for no other reason than because it's how they were raised to think. We need to change this thinking while keeping our history. Removing the statues and putting them in proper places is a good start.
This is because when an invading army conducts scorched Earth tactics on a people they tend to not forget it, dear.
And my ancestors fought for the North to free the slaves and were from Indiana. They later migrated down to Texas.
And I still had no idea that 'damyankee' was two separate words until the third grade, I think it was.
Scorched earth tactics = Karma is a bitch. Compared to the centuries of enslavement and torture on fellow human beings in order to become greedily wealthy,I have no sympathy for the victims of Sherman's march. Burning raping a pillaging is no better than the torture, forced labor,selling off of ones family and rape going on for centuries at the hand of slave masters. Maybe the south should remember when you do centuries of damage like that the equivalent of scorched earth tactic's, the black community tend not to forget also. They sure as hell don't want to see statues idolizing the idiots who tried to keep them enslaved. Would you? Yes you can argue that's not all the war was about and you'd be correct, but put yourself in their shoes. To the black community that's what these statues represent. Lets put these images of the past in proper context and move on. If private institutions want to continue or even buy these images and display them than that's their prerogative. Yale chose not to because it impacted their bottom line. These images should not be displayed on public land as hero's. They should be displayed on public land to teach about the evils of slavery and to keep alive American history for future generations.
BTW I'm sure that my sister's ex's family dug up the family silverware as soon as Sherman left. Sadly the ex in-laws probably have no Idea how pathetically stupid they sound in their century old complaint.
When you embarrass or threaten Institutions with boycotts and demonstrations to deny their origins and heritage --- you're not "winning" a damn thing. You're just stripping them of that legacy. And then everyone forgets WHY the Civil Rights movement and Reconstruction and the Civil War happened.
This was a conflict WITHIN FAMILIES. Brothers killing brothers. Not about the North and the South. It's far more complex than that.
I have to admit I was appalled that this ever existed in the first place. Yale being in CT, a northern state and the college being founded in 1933, they couldn't have come up with something better Calhoun did to put on the window? The guy must have done something important that was worth while. I think the name should have stayed and the offending window or windows removed to another part of the college,perhaps a section dedicated to the history of Calhoun college to note Calhoun's unfortunate views on slavery without creating such a hostile environment.
The same goes for statues of Lee. These statues were clearly made to blow smoke in the face of northerners and blacks and have been doing so for far too long and creating a hostile environment and should be moved to a more suitable location IMHO. Now Lee was a brilliant general and should be admired for that but I seriously doubt that was the intention of the statue when it was first created.
Now in the case of the CT whipping post that I though should have stayed right where it was. Until some Librarian decided to have a demonstration of how it was used to whip slaves nobody knew what it was. For years people hung advertisements on the post thinking that's what it was for. The post wasn't just used on slaves it was also used to whip people who didn't pay their taxes AKA whites, but of course blacks made it all about them. After meeting with local black leaders the post was removed in the middle of the night and will be put in a museum across the street. Now considering it wasn't offensive to anybody for a couple of century's until the librarian's demonstration, It should have stayed. Perhaps with a plaque explaining what it was and what it was used for and pointing out that both blacks and whites were whipped. I'm glad it wasn't destroyed but in a way it was because it's no longer where it was erected 200+ years ago because of some thin skinned folks. It loses something in the move because you lose the location. If you are on the green you get a better perspective of the posts intention. It was not just meant for physical punishment but for humiliation and scare tactic's. It wasn't placed behind jail walls it was placed in a central spot for all to see so the person would be embarrassed and all who viewed them would take note not to make that mistake themselves. When they removed it they weakened the impact of the meaning of the device.
It's a hard subject to figure out and unfortunately not much thought of these objects historical meaning is being given whether it's Lee or the whipping post. Political officials are caving quickly to the screaming left so they don't lose votes instead of giving this the consideration it deserves.
I don't know why this all surprises you.. Lee spent MOST of his Pre Civil War days in the Northern states. Only experienced "plantation style" slavery BRIEFLY ONCE doing a favor for a nephew who died.
And the Lee family he comes from is virtual Virginia royalty. Going back to the FOUNDING of the state.
The guy has been on FIVE federal postage stamps. I don't understand what you're afraid of here. It's the STORY of our country...
