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Author Topic:   PC Gone Too Far
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


Message 685 of 734 (808686)
05-12-2017 9:04 AM
Reply to: Message 677 by Taq
05-11-2017 12:36 PM


Re: New Orleans is Removing Confederate War Monuments
To put this in a more modern context, imagine if Nazis after WWII erected a massive statue of Hitler in the main town square of Berlin in reverence of their much beloved leader.
That analogy is a better one than the one I had in mind.
Seeing the veneration that some people still hold the old Confederacy - and the historical revisionism some racists are engaging in (as well as black Ameican still being denied their place as equal citizens) - removing symbols and monuments associated with the Confederacy and slave-owning culture is more like a lower key, less obtrusive form of the de-Nazification Germany went through after WWII.

Freedom is merely privilege extended, unless enjoyed by one and all. — Billy Bragg

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 Message 677 by Taq, posted 05-11-2017 12:36 PM Taq has not replied

  
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


(1)
Message 692 of 734 (808916)
05-14-2017 9:17 PM


Funny thing is that back when I was in school, we learned pretty well how horrible slavery was, how Southern culture was based deeply upon the horrors of slavery, and how national politics was dominated by the issue of slavery right up to the Civil War. And we learned this in...southeast Alaska where we had no Confederate monuments at all.
In fact, the people fighting to keep the monuments? They are the ones trying to whitewash history and present the antebellum South as some kind of Uncle Reemus fantasy land.
The ones who are trying to remove the symbols and monuments glorifying the "Lost Cause" are the ones trying to maintain an appropriate focus on the real horror in our actual history.

Freedom is merely privilege extended, unless enjoyed by one and all. — Billy Bragg

Replies to this message:
 Message 693 by New Cat's Eye, posted 05-14-2017 9:55 PM Chiroptera has seen this message but not replied

  
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


(1)
Message 703 of 734 (809137)
05-16-2017 11:57 AM
Reply to: Message 700 by Percy
05-15-2017 12:57 PM


Re: Confederate Monuments Worth Puttin Up
Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing prominent monuments to white Southerners who resisted the Confederacy by engaging in acts of sabotage, helping escaped Union POWs get to the north, and forming guerilla units.
I admit it's not so much for history as much as it's to see the good ol' boys scream.

Freedom is merely privilege extended, unless enjoyed by one and all. — Billy Bragg

This message is a reply to:
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Replies to this message:
 Message 705 by New Cat's Eye, posted 05-16-2017 12:10 PM Chiroptera has replied

  
Chiroptera
Inactive Member


Message 706 of 734 (809174)
05-16-2017 5:02 PM
Reply to: Message 705 by New Cat's Eye
05-16-2017 12:10 PM


Re: Confederate Monuments Worth Puttin Up
I'm a bad bat.

Freedom is merely privilege extended, unless enjoyed by one and all. — Billy Bragg

This message is a reply to:
 Message 705 by New Cat's Eye, posted 05-16-2017 12:10 PM New Cat's Eye has replied

Replies to this message:
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Chiroptera
Inactive Member


(1)
Message 711 of 734 (809259)
05-17-2017 1:39 PM
Reply to: Message 708 by Percy
05-17-2017 9:27 AM


Re: et tu, Beauregard?
Or perhaps it will be purchased by white supremacists to use in promoting their agenda.
Weren't most of these monuments originally erected by white supremacists to promote their agenda? If so, how do you "contextualize" that? Put up a big sign in front of it - big enough and positioned so you can't get a good picture of the monument without the sign - that says, "This monument was erected during a time when the unjustified oppression of black citizens was intensifying, to commemorate a society that thought owning other human beings as if they were property was part of an advanced civilization"?

Freedom is merely privilege extended, unless enjoyed by one and all. — Billy Bragg

This message is a reply to:
 Message 708 by Percy, posted 05-17-2017 9:27 AM Percy has seen this message but not replied

Replies to this message:
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Chiroptera
Inactive Member


Message 720 of 734 (809845)
05-21-2017 4:26 PM
Reply to: Message 719 by New Cat's Eye
05-21-2017 11:49 AM


Re: Robert E. Lee Statue Removed in New Orleans
It's on private property, but still.
I think that is an important distinction. Namely, instead of an indictment of the sentiments of an entire community, it becomes more of a question about the motives of the owner of the property.
Speaking of which, according to Wikipedia, it wasn't erected in Seattle as a monument to Lenin's greatness or anything, and the residents of the neighborhood seem to think of it more ironically than as a monument extolling the virtues of totalitarian, single-party rule. I think that's another important difference.
Ss far as I know, there hasn't been any wide spread protests against it standing where it is; that is yet, in my opinion, another important difference.
Still, I can see how immigrants from eastern Europe, especially older ones, would be taken back by seeing it. It is certainly understandable that someone may protest against a statue of intolerant dictator who set up a horrible totalitarian regime.

Freedom is merely privilege extended, unless enjoyed by one and all. — Billy Bragg

This message is a reply to:
 Message 719 by New Cat's Eye, posted 05-21-2017 11:49 AM New Cat's Eye has replied

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