(August 21, 2017 at 6:21 pm)RoadRunner79 Wrote:(August 21, 2017 at 3:06 pm)Fake Messiah Wrote: Or maybe they should just re-name statues like it's sometimes done. For instance in Swiss town of Bern there is a statue called Kindlifresserbrunnen which was erected back in 16th century and represents a Jew eating Catholic children. But as time passed and those history hatin' Antifa guys came along there was a sudden pressure to remove it, so people just started referring to it as an Ogre, not a Jew.
So people could also re-name Lee and Stonewall Jackson statues as Cowboys. "But what about their Southern uniform?" So what? Kindlifresserbrunnen wears Jewish hat and yet people call it Ogre.
I don't even think that is necessary (re-naming). I'm not going to pretend to know, the motivations of those who put up the statues (if it was for white supremacy; I don't think that Lee or Jackson was a very good choice given the history of the matter). However, even if it was was originally racially motivated, I think that with both men, it could be used to focus on the good that they stood for, rather than only fighting for the south (especially Lee and his promotion of unification after the war). Neither seem to be all about (or a symbol) for slavery and oppression from what I have read on them.
On the matter, I'm kind of neutral. These statues didn't bother me a year ago, and they don't bother me today. I think that if the city or location that owns them, wants to take them down, and it is done through proper procedures; I have no problem with that. If it is mobs tearing down or defacing statues because they don't like them; I think that is a different matter all together (more akin to the reference in the OP). I think that a rational case can be made for both sides and the proper people may make their decision from there. However when people won't even listen, or start trying to strong-arm politicians and such by calling anyone who disagrees a racist (unjustly); I do start leaning away from that side and supporting the other rather quickly.
There is that typical theist narcissism once again. Nobody gives a fuck that it doesn't bother you personally. We are still talking about the defense of a horrible institution, that of slavery, and that should bother any empathetic thinking human being. The fact that you say it doesn't bother you says more about you than it does to those who rightfully object to making heros out of slave owners. Those statues were not mere history lessons, they were put up to honor those who fought to keep slavery. THAT is the part you keep missing.
