Category: Art And Social Change

In the last few years, there has been widespread protest in removing Confederate statues to stop celebrating figures who supported not just breaking away from the U.S. but also keeping slavery. These statues are mostly located in the southern states of the U.S. and were also part of the Confederate States during the Civil War. Although I do agree that these figures should not be celebrated and statues brought down but I also believe they should not be erase from history to show people that this actually happened.

Much like today with the Christopher Columbus statues where there has been protest to be taken because it represent a racial and violent history to the treatment of indigenous people in the Americas. There are others who refused to have them taken down because the statue has been associated with culture and a sense of heritage, much like the Confederate statues. I do not think we do not see much of the civil rights leaders such as MLK, Rosa Parks to other historical figures like Harriet Tubman to celebrate their accomplishments in bringing a better change to society. Recently, a statue was taken down near Central Park of James Marion Sims. According to a BBC article, Sims was described as the “father of genecology” who performed medical experiments on enslaved black women without using any anesthetics. This statue was labelled as a symbol hate and was therefore taken down.

It was a very interesting read, especially now we are seeing more action and protest taken to remove any statue that represents the darkest history of the U.S. This history should not be celebrated but should be taught in schools to show students the whole history of the country and not “white wash” any part of history.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43804725

Preserving history is never easy, especially when it comes to wars. Wars always demand countless resources and lives, put a stain on the economy, thrust the majority of people who cannot work in such conditions into poverty, all because of the disagreement of a few individuals with obviously way too much power on their hands.

While it is true that occasionally, by correctly backtracking the events of history and using a generally acceptable moral compass, the ones in the right and wrong can be identified, the unnecessary loss of innocent lives on both sides cannot be denied and, thus, deserves to be respected.

However, the erection and preservation of Confederate monuments do not commemorate, respect or celebrate the losses of the country. They represent an ideology of oppression and aggression. They do not bring light to the fallen (white) sons of the South, as, if they were to do that, soldiers and allies of the Union would be represented as well. While they definitely represent a time in history that should never be forgotten or denied, since they are rather a symbol of white supremacy than a testament of honor, their placement in a museum rather than on the street seems more befitting, as W. Fitzhugh Brundage of Vox said as well.

by Sarah Arzberger

After reading these articles, I start to remember seeing on the news of people rioting and trying to tear down monuments and statues of people who have made an impact on history. As being a history nerd I start to feel angry and was frustrated. I didn’t truly understand why anyone would want to do such a thing. But after doing research I can see why they would want these statues tourn down. Yes, they are somewhat important to American history but that doesn’t justify having these figures commemorated in public.

Confederate leaders should not be made into public figures. People like Rev Dr. Martin Luther King jr, Rosa Parks, Sacagawea, Lewis, and William Clark are great examples of people who should be celebrated for literally making a huge impact on the world and changing society. One thing besides the statues that really stuck with me is how buildings and schools are named after these people. Yes, it’s just a name but would you want to go to a school named after someone who was responsible for the destruction and the harm of others? I find it really amazing that people are using their voice and with the help of social media to speak their minds. People back then were not able to voice there opinion on these statues but we live in a different time now. For once we have people defending themselves and sticking up for what they believe in not taking no for an answer. One thing that I can take away from all of this is the diligence, dedication, and drive that these people have. I bet that if these statues were still up they would still be there until they came down.

On the other hand, one thing that I cant stand behind is the aftermath of it all. I look at the photos of the so-called artwork of the areas that the statues were once at and its full of graffiti. Im all for Black Lives matter and taking down the statues but I don’t think foul language or colorful spray paints justify a point. Yes, let’s take down these monsters but there is no need to tag it up after. We are taking it down so we don’t have to look at these people daily, but in its place is just graffiti?

Eliana Grajales

My title says it all. Why? The first question I asked myself while reading these articles on confederate statues was “why is it so easy for some people to defend these pieces of art used to spread violent rhetoric but when it comes to street art/graffiti it’s difficult to even label it as a valid art medium and sometimes considered vandalism?” Don’t get me wrong, graffiti can be used to spread harmful messages and it’s absolutely no where near a perfect form of art, but the fact that it’s easy for someone to say that graffiti is a violation of property and argue to keep statues of men who represent white supremacy up is truly mind boggling to me.

Something I also found particularly interesting in the article “Confederate Statues Were Built To Further A ‘White Supremacist Future'” is once the public started to rightfully become outraged with these statues the Mayor of Baltimore then decided to take them down without anyone noticing. This to me reads as someone only trying to reverse their wrongs because they were caught and not actually because they genuinely felt what they did were bad. Not to say that the Mayor of Baltimore erected these statues up but he actively stayed complicit and kept them up even though they were a symbol of hate.