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In the world of 'identity politics' and 'virtue signaling', we choose our heroes and choose our victims on the basis of historical perception rather than historical accuracy. Thus, Robert E. Lee offends while George Washington, also a slave owner, does not.
Much of this is to do with subordinating history to contemporary politics. It is the management of history to support a political agenda. This isn't a new phenomenon although it has tended to be the hallmark of dictators and authoritarian regimes. But what we are seeing in the democratic west - and this is far from limited to the USA - is a new authoritarianism and intolerance which is using the tools of the technological revolution to impose its norms and police the recalcitrants.
Very well said! I agree that it is not just the US, I know that the UK has experienced this sort of stuff too.
The New York City subway system is facing the need for a major overhaul. Thread such as Governor Cuomo Ignoring Subway Disaster have discussed the problems and the finger pointing going into bringing the system up to snuff. The system in a sense is a victim of its own success. The city is gentrifying. Middle class, upper middle class and wealthy people go out at night and use the subway. The subways need upgrades to handle this new business.
So, in the latest identity politics hysteria anything looking remotely like a Confederate symbol is subject to attack. We're removing statues of Robert E. Lee. Someone notices a tile scheme (picture below) looking a bit like the Confederate battle flag.
I don't think that historical symbols such as tiling or Robert E. Lee statues are holding back minorities from producing and earning on their merits. The culture of grievance has gone way too far.
I think it's way past time to stop relitigating a war that ended 162 years ago.
just one more reason to add to the list of why I do not live in a large city..........
Statues represent a perspective at the point in time that they were erected. The Charlottesville statue was erected in 1924. Cities and towns across the globe have statues that were erected mostly in the past two hundred years. They generally glorify or remember people, regiments, organizations, etc. that, at the time, were considered worthy of recognition. Over time, their significance tends to fade and they become objects of urban art as much as anything. Most people don't give them a second thought.
What has happened in Charlottesville is that a statue has become the unwitting centerpiece of a modern political struggle which has very little to do with why the statue was erected in the first place.
But why would anyone in Charlottesville erect a statue in 1924 of a traitor to the United States and a loser of a rebellion that ended 60 years earlier? Why would that need to be commemorated?
But why would anyone in Charlottesville erect a statue in 1924 of a traitor to the United States and a loser of a rebellion that ended 60 years earlier? Why would that need to be commemorated?
Unfortunately, as I wasn't around in 1924 I cannot answer your question. That may be something that you would wish to research.
Taking a statue down does not "eradicate" history. What one learns from a statue is next to nothing.
But its empty space will teach NOTHING - that is for certain.
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