Gestures of Progress

Amid all the racial tension we have been witnessing, our president signed an executive order protecting statues of military war heroes.  This comes after a flurry of activity about what to do with old statues that may symbolize racism.  This is yet another reminder of how hard it it is to be an American.  We seem to find ourselves in the most paradoxical situations and this one is no different.  Should we remove these public symbols of the Confederacy and racism?

Some things to consider.  First, we have to acknowledge that these figures may represent dark places of our history, but are still part of our history. The fact is that some of these statues represent beloved founding fathers that were slave owners and the truth is that slavery is over.  There are pieces of the American story that we are not proud of.  We can't erase those parts of history, but we can choose to move on from them.

Second, our history is rich with change and innovation.  Why do we not celebrate this as we go?  What if our monuments reflected how far we have come, instead of where we used to be?  Construction started on Mount Rushmore in 1927.  Did they really think that these four men were the best we were going to get?  I really never understood the back lash of putting Harriet Tubman on the 20 dollar bill.  This would be a symbol of progress in America.  Moving something out doesn't mean we have to forget about it.  It just means that we know where we are going and what it means to have come this far.

Third, these choices represent our values.  So what does this situation say about current American values?  Right now it means that we can still be polarized about an issue of decorum.  We have one side that says you can't erase history by removing statues.  We have another side that says these statues represent and symbolize institutionalized racism.  Picking a side seems to be our most prominent American value these days.  I'm not sure a sculptor could make a statue of that. 

I am not suggesting we destroy all these statues and monuments, but we have to move on from old stories.  If people in Kentucky can move on by removing a statue, then the nation can.  NASA will be renaming their headquarters after Mary Jackson, their first African American female engineer.  These are gestures of progress, not erasing history.  Those gestures have been going on for years.  Newsweek reported two years ago that over a hundred confederate statues had been removed across the US.  I don't recall any national outrage.  My point is, our old stories belong in museums.  The new stories of our country should be displayed.  You can celebrate our progress and still not forget our history.

A statue of Robert E. Lee being removed in Dallas back in 2017. (Newsweek)