GSU (downtown) Students Demand that Henry Grady Statue Be Removed (Atlanta: public schools, university)

[DreamerD]

I think this is pretty awesome.



https://www.ajc.com/news/local-educa...7bh1r87V8NWlM/

[markjames68]

Moving it to the Atlanta History Center is a reasonable compromise. Keeping it there, with the possible addition of some text explaining the historical context of Grady and his legacy will remind visitors of our society’s changes over the past 100+ years.

The GSU students can raise funds to cover the cost of removal so taxpayer dollars aren’t used.

[architect77]

I always think of the Grady from Sanford and Son, so just put his picture up everywhere that says Grady and the problem is solved.

[DreamerD]

Originally Posted by markjames68

Moving it to the Atlanta History Center is a reasonable compromise. Keeping it there, with the possible addition of some text explaining the historical context of Grady and his legacy will remind visitors of our society’s changes over the past 100+ years.

The GSU students can raise funds to cover the cost of removal so taxpayer dollars aren’t used.

I thought about your response for a while. Wasn't it taxpayer dollars that put it there in the first place? Why would it be out of the question to have taxpayer dollars remove it?

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Part of history just leave it be. It's like WW2. Try and hide it and sooner or later it will be repeated.

[atlHawks]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

Part of history just leave it be. It's like WW2. Try and hide it and sooner or later it will be repeated.

Cancel culture is awful.

[jeoff]

It’s not a memorial to the confederacy, or celebration of racism. In a region that is known for constantly looking backward, he pushed Atlanta forward—that is why the statue is there. We should give context to history, and remind folks that some men and women that did important things weren’t wonderful people, but this is not an attempt at correcting a wrong, it is burying history.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by jeoff

It’s not a memorial to the confederacy, or celebration of racism. In a region that is known for constantly looking backward, he pushed Atlanta forward—that is why the statue is there. We should give context to history, and remind folks that some men and women that did important things weren’t wonderful people, but this is not an attempt at correcting a wrong, it is burying history.

Indeed. It would serve those GSU students to actually READ Henry Grady's famous 1886 speech to an audience of northern industrialists, bankers and the President of the United States in New York -- when he declared "We have built a brave and beautiful city!" Yes, he advocated for white supremacy like most all white Southerners of the time. But he also had a profound understanding of the South's shortcomings, and a bold vision for what Atlanta and Georgia could become.

https://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/...h-dec.-22-1886

I'm a graduate of the Henry Grady College of Journalism at the University of Georgia. Henry Grady High School has a long and proud legacy as one of the City of Atlanta's finest public schools. And of course, tens of thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of people not just in Metro Atlanta, but across Georgia and beyond would literally NOT BE ALIVE if not for the outstanding care provided by Grady Hospital. You can move a statue, but Grady's name won't be stripped from any of those institutions anytime soon.

[seussie]

Originally Posted by DreamerD

I thought about your response for a while. Wasn't it taxpayer dollars that put it there in the first place? Why would it be out of the question to have taxpayer dollars remove it?

Just a brief note: it was funded by public subscriptions rather than taxpayer dollars. The sculptor, Alexander Doyle, also built his career off of commissions to create Confederate sculptures.

My general response to this and most sculptures that venerate problematic people: good. Society changes, and so should its art and the way public art can set the tone for society. The statue moved once. It can move again. I'd prefer to a trash bin or broken down for reuse. That thing is heavy. Pride blinds, and I see too many people trying desensitize the effect racism did and still has by saying things like "it's normal for white people to have been racist then." Imagine if you were the target of that racism then or now. But, because I am a historian and I do think destruction enables many people to still not engage with history, I like their suggestion of a plaque. But also, if it would go to a history museum or the likes, people who love these figures and are arguing that people overlook their contributions, should be assuaged by that being one of the main objectives of preservation centers. More student groups, etc. would get exposure to this than the few folk pounding the pavement with 19th century tour books in their hands.

[arjay57]

Grady supported some racist ideas but this statue seems different from Confederate memorials.

If folks are genuinely upset I'd be okay with moving it to the History Center or something like that, but not with taxpayer money.