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"Gov. Roy Cooper ordered three Confederate monuments removed from the state Capitol grounds to protect public safety, he said in a statement, less than 24 hours after protesters pulled down two bronze soldiers from the 75-foot Confederate monument at the Capitol.
The monuments include memorials that have stood at the State Capitol for more than a century: the remainder of the North Carolina Confederate monument, the monument to the Women of the Confederacy and the Henry Wyatt Monument.
Crews removed the Wyatt Monument and the Women of the Confederacy statues Saturday morning.
“I am concerned about the dangerous efforts to pull down and carry off large, heavy statues and the strong potential for violent clashes at the site,” Cooper said in a statement Saturday afternoon. “If the legislature had repealed their 2015 law that puts up legal roadblocks to removal we could have avoided the dangerous incidents of last night.
“Monuments to white supremacy don’t belong in places of allegiance, and it’s past time that these painful memorials be moved in a legal, safe way,” Cooper said.
Friday night, after protesters removed the bronze statues, they hung the statue of a cavalryman by its neck from a streetlight. The other statue, an artilleryman, was dragged through the streets to the Wake County Courthouse, and later was carried away by police in a golf cart."
The inscription on the monument read:
"First at Bethel
Last at Appomattox"
One of my great-great grandfathers fought in the Battle of Big Bethel (considered the first "major" battle of the Civil War) and another of my great-great grandfathers surrendered with Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse.
I am glad the monument is being removed.
The "lynching" of the statue on a streetlight was a nice touch, lol.
Last edited by Stede Bonnet; 06-20-2020 at 06:18 PM..
As in all wars, rich powerful men recruit, induct, draft, wheedle, cajole, influence, persuade poor men to fight and die only to preserve their wealth and positions of power. The Civil War rebellion was no different.
As most are, it was a stupid, needless, wasteful war perpetrated by politicians seeking to maintain their power.
Take down all the Confederate officer statues, all the traitorous politician monuments, for sure.
I believe we need to find a way to remember the humble people who tragically gave up everything with nothing to gain and lost their lives, homes, and families while led by traitors.
Last edited by MikeJaquish; 06-21-2020 at 06:51 AM..
My whole life I have been relatively moderate politically and prided myself on being able to understand both sides, recognizing that most optimal solutions will involve compromise, etc. The controversy over confederate monuments is one of a handful of issues I have simply never been able to wrap my brain around.
If you have a monument in public space to someone long-decreased who became famous fighting a war against our present nation largely so that they could be allowed to continue doing things that are now universally recognized as morally repugnant, as far as I am concerned the only acceptable response is some form of "Oh ****, I'm sorry. I didn't realize who that was/I walk by that statue every day but have never really looked at it/I live in a bubble and had no idea anyone felt that way about these monuments. We'll take it down right away." You don't just leave it up and you definitely don't pass laws making it harder for others to take down. If you do, you definitely don't get to complain when the people eventually get sick of it and take care of the matter themselves. This has literally zero to do with political views and everything to do with being the barest shell of a decent human being who doesn't like being an a-hole to others for no real reason whatsoever.
I get that so-and-so might have been a decent grandpa despite the actions the rest of us know him for and his great-grandkids wish they could have gotten to know and like to show some respect. I've had plenty of folks in my family history who were decent to their own family members despite being generally crappy human beings. We talk about the good side many didn't see at their funeral, share some of the positive memories and family gatherings despite a pretty-darn universal understanding that they had some pretty messed-up beliefs, did some pretty terrible things and that we cannot expect outsiders to have positive memories of them. I just take it for granted that any reasonably adult would respond this way?
I’m fine with them removing it, not necessarily the process by which it was removed. It makes me wonder where it stops. They toppled a statue of US Grant in San Francisco. That’s absurd and is nothing more than vandalism. Calls to take down statues of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson...it’s too much.
My whole life I have been relatively moderate politically and prided myself on being able to understand both sides, recognizing that most optimal solutions will involve compromise, etc. The controversy over confederate monuments is one of a handful of issues I have simply never been able to wrap my brain around.
If you have a monument in public space to someone long-decreased who became famous fighting a war against our present nation largely so that they could be allowed to continue doing things that are now universally recognized as morally repugnant, as far as I am concerned the only acceptable response is some form of "Oh ****, I'm sorry. I didn't realize who that was/I walk by that statue every day but have never really looked at it/I live in a bubble and had no idea anyone felt that way about these monuments. We'll take it down right away." You don't just leave it up and you definitely don't pass laws making it harder for others to take down. If you do, you definitely don't get to complain when the people eventually get sick of it and take care of the matter themselves. This has literally zero to do with political views and everything to do with being the barest shell of a decent human being who doesn't like being an a-hole to others for no real reason whatsoever.
I get that so-and-so might have been a decent grandpa despite the actions the rest of us know him for and his great-grandkids wish they could have gotten to know and like to show some respect. I've had plenty of folks in my family history who were decent to their own family members despite being generally crappy human beings. We talk about the good side many didn't see at their funeral, share some of the positive memories and family gatherings despite a pretty-darn universal understanding that they had some pretty messed-up beliefs, did some pretty terrible things and that we cannot expect outsiders to have positive memories of them. I just take it for granted that any reasonably adult would respond this way?
As in all wars, rich powerful men recruit, induct, draft, wheedle, cajole, influence, persuade poor men to fight and die only to preserve their wealth and positions of power. The Civil War rebellion was no different.
As most are, it was a stupid, needless, wasteful war perpetrated by politicians seeking to maintain their power.
Take down all the Confederate officer statues, all the traitorous politician monuments, for sure.
I believe we need to find a way to remember the humble people who tragically gave up everything with nothing to gain and lost their lives, homes, and families while led by traitors.
Similarly, we should also look at the reason why the statues/monuments were erected in the first place. Many of them were put up way past the civil war in public places by people in power as a "FU" to black Americans to intimidate them and as part of an effort to disenfranchise them from general participation in society. (And the people were told that it was a way to honor their "heritage", even though the confederacy only lasted 5 years).
Thus has been the history of our country, those who do not have a lot are pitted against each other so that the focus doesn't turn on the elites/wealthy and figure out who's really concentrating the wealth/power.
Wonder what they are going to do with Stone Mountain in Georgia........
Similarly, we should also look at the reason why the statues/monuments were erected in the first place. Many of them were put up way past the civil war in public places by people in power as a "FU" to black Americans to intimidate them and as part of an effort to disenfranchise them from general participation in society. (And the people were told that it was a way to honor their "heritage", even though the confederacy only lasted 5 years).
Thus has been the history of our country, those who do not have a lot are pitted against each other so that the focus doesn't turn on the elites/wealthy and figure out who's really concentrating the wealth/power.
Wonder what they are going to do with Stone Mountain in Georgia........
I think we all need to continually be historians. I'm slowly learning that the US history classes from high school are somewhat inadequate and incomplete on their own (through no fault of the history teacher, there's just not enough time in the curriculum) and we need to continually be learning about the past and how that affects what is happening today.
I've definitely added a few books to my reading list to read up on the issues that have led us to where we are today.
Also, do we have friends who are minorities or in groups that have traditionally been suppressed or do our friend group consist just of people who look like us? (and do we talk to them about how they feel and what their experiences are or do we just skirt around the issues and pretend they don't exist). Thought don't put the burden of them of being your psychologist and resolving your personal issues/conflicts/thoughts about the issues, they're just there to help educate you/provide a perspective.
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