Presentation: Controversy over Confederate Monuments
Confederate Monuments; Heritage or History?
Monuments do represent a history following the Civil War and the Fall of the Confederacy in 1865[i]. However, many of these monuments or statues were erected for an array of reasons and therefore the intent of certain statues has led to debates and controversy regarding the issue. Confederate monuments are extended to confederate symbols; which includes flags, schools and street names, to which there are almost 2000 still in American public spaces.
How This Became an Issue
Confederate monuments strike a debate regarding significance, meaning and contemporary interpretation of these statues and monuments. Some groups who are neo- confederates argue that these statues and symbols are historical artefacts and therefore Confederate should not be removed as this would be like removing history and the heritage of Southerners. It is not a symbol of white supremacy but rather a commemoration of fallen soldiers.
The SPLC websites offers a large range of insight to analysis of these statues explaining in depth how this has become an issue.
However, looking at this graph from the SPLC centre, it clearly highlights that most monuments were not built in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, therefore proving that not all statues are there for the intention to commemorate the soldiers. From the graph it can be noted that they were, for the most part, built during the Jim Crow era and the Civil Rights Movement – so this clarifies the link that white supremacy is rich in the South and is projected through these confederate statues. Therefore, this suggests that these statues were built with the intention to intimidate African Americans.
Although local groups have been advocating for the removal of these statues for a long time, the movement gained momentum after receiving national attention following eye opening incidents in 2015 and again in 2017.
2015
[ii]
2017
Here is a link that may be slightly unsettling, yet it shows the severity of the Charlottesville protest, where hundreds of far-right protestors are shown holding torches, and chanting racist, antisemitic and xenophobic slurs that were known and heard in the Hitler youth[v]. This march featured the Robert E. Lee statue – yet a local judge refused to believe to change a historical preservation law that prevented the removal of the statue[vi].
Contrast of Monuments
The main issue of the confederate monuments is who built them and when they were built – by looking further into this it gives a better idea of the intentions and meanings behind the statues.
Monuments
Looking at appropriate confederate memorials, we see an alikeness between them, that they are all built just after the Civil War ended in 1865 – again they tended to be in graveyards around Southern America.
[vii]Bull Run Monument: Erected June 13th, 1865. This is one of the very first monuments that had been built and its purpose was to commemorate those who had died as this inscription writes “In memory of the patriots who fell at Bull Run. July 21, 1961.”[viii]
Cross Creek Cemetery: Erected December 30th, 1868. This monument was done by local ladies in Fayetteville, who raised funds in order to fund the memorial and it is in the Confederate graveyard portion of Cross Creek Cemetery[ix]
1st Long Island Volunteers: This statue was dedicated in 1888 by the State of New York and it is situated southeast of Gettysburg on Slocum Avenue – which is nearby the battlefield historic district[x]
Controversial monuments
However, not all monuments hold the same equivalence of significance. The previous statues we looked at were all erected not long after the Civil War and the intention was to commemorate the fallen soldiers therefore the intentions were sincere. Therefore, the following statues we will look are built during or after the Jim crow era, funded by racist groups, placed in central areas and their overall intention is to boast and intimidate
Nathan Bedford Forrest Statue: This statue was built in 1998, and the statues shows the KKK leader parading on a horse[xi] – this is a very boastful statue, built very late on. Therefore, this is more a celebratory statue compared to a memorial. Due to offence this statue has been called for removal and was approved in 2017.
Stone Mountain, Georgia: This was created in 1923 and it is a carving of President Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson who are three confederate figures from the Civil War. The monument initially had very prominent connections to the KKK although these connections have been terminated the initial significance of the monument pushes proposals to remove this confederate carving as it is deeply unsettling[xii].
Robert E. Lee, Charlottesville: This monument was erected in 1924 “during a gala confederate reunion”[xiii]. Before the reveal the statue was wrapped in a confederate flag that was pulled away by the three-year-old granddaughter of General Lee. A grand statue of Robert E. Lee is morally wrong as in this case it was a celebration – again many called for its removal as it is very offensive to large groups of the population.
What States are doing to tackle the issue
Each state is granted their own set of laws, and through further investigation it was evident that many Southern states provide us with an array of protection laws to legally keep the confederate monuments standing even through its controversy.
However, protests are imminent and results in states taking immediate action, by taking confederate monuments down in the middle of the night to prevent further upset or disruption to the states in target.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu greatly explains what these certain confederate statues are not in fact a historical artefact and instead an offence, as why is this commemorated yet other tragedies are forgotten. “There is a difference of the remembrance of history and the reverence of it.” – Mayor Mitch Landrieu
Here you can access the full speech by the Mayor of New Orleans, who highlights why these monuments have been removed and why others should follow this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csMbjG0-6Ak
By Group K: Andrea Vejtorp-Birch, Caitlyn Rose, Carly Taniuk and Janice Kennedy
Bibliography
[i] Goodman, Jeffrey, ‘MONUMENTAL CONCERNS’, Planning, 83 (2017), 19–23
[ii] Murphy, Dan, ‘Beyond Rhodesia, Dylann Roof’s manifesto and the website that radicalized him’, The Christian science monitor, June 20th2015. https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/Backchannels/2015/0620/Beyond-Rhodesia-Dylann-Roof-s-manifesto-and-the-website-that-radicalized-him
[iii] Jason Horowitz, Nick Corasaniti and Ashley Southall, “Nine Killed in Shooting at Black Church In Charleston”, The New York Times, 17 July 2015 https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/18/us/church-attacked-in-charleston-south-carolina.html.
[iv] Matt Zapotosky, “Charleston Church Shooter: ‘I Would Like to Make It Crystal Clear, I Do Not Regret What I Did’”, The Washingotn Post, 5 January 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/charleston-church-shooter-i-would-like-to-make-it-crystal-clear-i-do-not-regret-what-i-did/2017/01/04/05b0061e-d1da-11e6-a783-cd3fa950f2fd_story.html
[v] Joe Heim, “Recounting A Day of Rage, Hate, Violence and Death”, The Washington Post, 14 August 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/local/charlottesville-timeline/
[vi] Shannon Van Sant, (2019), “Judge Blocks Removal of Confederate Statue That Sparked Charlottesville Protest”, https://www.npr.org/2019/09/14/760876494/judge-blocks-removal-of-confederate-statue-that-sparked-charlottesville-protest?t=1586180863595 [Accessed 6 April 2020].
[vii] Hawks, Steve “Bull Run Monument”, Stone Sentinels, 2020 http://stonesentinels.com/manassas/tour-manassas-battlefield/henry-hill-visitor-center/henry-hill-monument/
[viii] November 17th, 2017 ‘The Battle of First Manassas (First Bull Run)’ https://www.nps.gov/mana/learn/historyculture/first-manassas.htm
[ix] 2020, ‘Confederate Monument at Cross Creek Cemetery’ Cumberland County NC Fayetteville Area Conventions and Visitors Bureau, https://www.visitfayettevillenc.com/listing/confederate-monument-at-cross-creek-cemetery/3086/
[x] ‘67th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment’, The Battle of Gettysburg, https://gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/union-monuments/new-york/new-york-infantry/67th-new-york/
[xi] Alund, Natalie and Allison, Natalie ‘ 15th December, 2019 Nathan Bedford Forrest Statue’ The Tennessean https://eu.tennessean.com/story/news/2017/12/27/nathan-bedford-forrest-statue-nashville-vandalized-pink/984740001/
[xii] Shah, Khushbu ‘The KKK’s Mount Rushmore: the problem with Stone Mountain’ The guardian https://www.theguardian.com/cities/ng-interactive/2018/oct/24/stone-mountain-is-it-time-to-remove-americas-biggest-confederate-memorial
[xiii] Sutton, Benjamin, 14th August 2017, The Story behind Charlottesville’s Robert E. Lee Monument https://hyperallergic.com/395627/robert-e-lee-confederate-monument-charlottesville/
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