Posted on Jun 24, 2015
Statues in the U.S. Capitol include noted Confederate leaders and postbellum white supremacists. Should these now be removed as well?
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The killings of nine churchgoers in Charleston last week by an alleged white supremacist brought new attention to the Confederate battle flag flying outside the South Carolina state house, and beyond. There are many symbols of the Confederacy and of racist ideology in other capitals -- including the U.S. Capitol.
That starts with the Mississippi state flag, which incorporates the Confederate battle flag and hangs in several locations in the Capitol complex, including in the underground tunnels connecting the Rayburn House Office Building and Dirksen Senate Office Building to the Capitol. It extends to a number of statues in the Capitol itself -- including one of Jefferson Davis, who served as both a congressman and a U.S. senator before becoming president of the Confederate States of America.
The Davis statue is part of the National Statuary Hall Collection, which is established by act of Congress and consists of two statues donated by each state. About a third of the statues, some of them dating back to the early 1870s, stand in Statuary Hall itself; the rest are placed elsewhere in the Capitol complex. Mississippi furnished the Davis statute in 1931, and it now stands in Statuary Hall -- but Davis is far from the only figure associated with the Confederacy or with white supremacism to be commemorated in the collection.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/06/23/a-field-guide-to-the-racists-commemorated-inside-the-u-s-capitol/?tid=hybrid_experimentrandom_1_na
That starts with the Mississippi state flag, which incorporates the Confederate battle flag and hangs in several locations in the Capitol complex, including in the underground tunnels connecting the Rayburn House Office Building and Dirksen Senate Office Building to the Capitol. It extends to a number of statues in the Capitol itself -- including one of Jefferson Davis, who served as both a congressman and a U.S. senator before becoming president of the Confederate States of America.
The Davis statue is part of the National Statuary Hall Collection, which is established by act of Congress and consists of two statues donated by each state. About a third of the statues, some of them dating back to the early 1870s, stand in Statuary Hall itself; the rest are placed elsewhere in the Capitol complex. Mississippi furnished the Davis statute in 1931, and it now stands in Statuary Hall -- but Davis is far from the only figure associated with the Confederacy or with white supremacism to be commemorated in the collection.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/06/23/a-field-guide-to-the-racists-commemorated-inside-the-u-s-capitol/?tid=hybrid_experimentrandom_1_na
Posted in these groups: 
Political Correctness
Confederate Flag
Political Correctness Confederate Flag
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 12
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I usually don't respond to the racially motivated stuff, but feel this does need to be addressed. First of all, this 21 yr old, Roof, was a felon, (abuse of prescription medication) awaiting trial, was given a pistol (by his father for his 21st birthday) and had spoken about shooting up a college(but made his decision at a church) killing 9 innocent church goers. Read and let this sink in. Now we have (1) ONE picture in his facebook with a confederate flag? he wore two African flags on his bomber jacket during his other pictures. Now the fault, blame should be directed at the individual. We have griped and complained about everything but the actual individual and his actions. He was a criminal, he committed the act. He should be punished. But the discussion has now drifted or been directed by media and the powers that be covering Confederate History, Flags, the naming convention of Military bases, I mean come on, The Dukes of Hazzard? Until people are held responsible for their own actions, when will we really work anything out? Now, God forbid, but say Mr Roof had walked into the same church with an explosive vest and screamed something Islamic and killed the same number of people, still all innocent, just means of death are changed. Would we continue to look for more laws directed at Explosive vests? Or Islamic Extremism? Or would we blame the bomber? This criminal was breaking laws left and right, and still is not blamed. But everything leading up is to blame? Maybe we blame and charge his friends, who heard he wanted to shoot a college up? Didn't say anything, so the must be punished. Again, why blame him for his actions, when we continue to let the media direct our thoughts. Stand up and research, the media feeds the weak, tells what to think, and will continue. History is for learning. I am sure Germany has some dark history that it wished it could hide, but still displays it as a reminder. Are we that naïve? Just my thoughts. I am not intending to attack or disrespect anyone or their views, but to discuss the history and display a view.
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We shouldn't try to erase, or remove history because it is an unpleasant reminder of past misdeeds. It shouldn't be glorified either, however.
Each time a discussion pops up about "removing" something, whatever it is, I want to understand the reasoning. Is it because we want to forget it? In the case of these statues, I'd hazard most people already had. Is it because we want to move on? I think for the most part we did. Or is it because some want to pretend it never existed at all?
My personal view, which tends to be unpopular regarding subjects like this is, every time we bring it up, we bring up all the baggage that comes with it. If we stop talking about it (with emotion) and leave it as clinical discussion, eventually the issue will just go away. It becomes a non-issue.
I hate to use the slippery slope argument, but the current trend is the Civil War. What happens when they start looking at WW2 and our heroes there. We had great folks "fall" afterward. Do we want the court of public opinion weighing in on Audie Murphy for his post war life, and deciding he is no longer fit to be a representative?
Each time a discussion pops up about "removing" something, whatever it is, I want to understand the reasoning. Is it because we want to forget it? In the case of these statues, I'd hazard most people already had. Is it because we want to move on? I think for the most part we did. Or is it because some want to pretend it never existed at all?
My personal view, which tends to be unpopular regarding subjects like this is, every time we bring it up, we bring up all the baggage that comes with it. If we stop talking about it (with emotion) and leave it as clinical discussion, eventually the issue will just go away. It becomes a non-issue.
I hate to use the slippery slope argument, but the current trend is the Civil War. What happens when they start looking at WW2 and our heroes there. We had great folks "fall" afterward. Do we want the court of public opinion weighing in on Audie Murphy for his post war life, and deciding he is no longer fit to be a representative?
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Col Joseph Lenertz
Agree. History needs to be preserved, even with warts...or especially with warts. If you "clean" it, you are much more likely to repeat it. No man (or woman) is perfect, but it doesn't mean Thomas Jefferson or Ben Franklin or Stonewall Jackson should be removed from historical sites or from our collective memory.
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I think there are other things that these men did that we can admire. People aren't perfect so I think despite their mistakes, some have contributed in other ways.
The issue with the flag from what I understand is that to many it still represents racism and a divided country
The issue with the flag from what I understand is that to many it still represents racism and a divided country
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