CPLT 389W Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: White Supremacy
21 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Lydia Abedeen
CPLT-389
DEBATE NOTES
Position on the issue of the statue removal: Supports the side that vouches for removal.
Reasons for doing so: 1. I personally feel that when a statue is erected, especially of a person, it
is to honor the thing or person that it has erected. A statue is a monument that is more often than
not, looked fondly upon. It is a symbol of history that represents, again more often than not, an
achievement or victory of that time period being represented, and it is meant to last forever.
However, not every significant object, person, or thing in history triggers such fond memories
and markers of achievement or victory historically, and this is certainly the case of the Robert E.
Lee Statue. It’s just how some people, objects, or things, (even some time periods!) if
immortalized, would bring about the grief
and struggles of that time period back for many
individuals. It just wouldn’t be fair for those individuals.
2. Specifically in this case of the Robert E. Lee statue (but which can be altered to fit other
historical cases of this nature, as well) the statue itself is a hallmark of white supremacy. As this
great NY Times
article states, “White elites showed their thanks by erecting Confederate
monuments...the Lee monument and others like it have assisted the cause of white supremacy
and the deadly violence that has accompanied it. This is why communities across the region have
a moral obligation to take up the cause of removing them. Artifacts of hate will be lost, but their
history and meaning will not.” Essentially, monuments such as these perpetuate the hate and
false superiority some political, social, and racial groups may have, which is why they need to be
immediately removed.
3. This may be far-fetched, but I’m just going to go for it. I feel like this conversation itself--the
fact that this is such an etched, heated debate even today--is means enough for the need of the
removal of these statues. Should the statues remain up, we will always be fighting about them,
divided as a people. It’s also true that there will be an outcry once these statues are removed, as
well. But groups that vie for the statue’s upkeeping can find outlets for their beloved supremacist
(or purely misguided, or even ignorant) history in other ways. For those whose history is
silenced, quashed, or pretty much upheaved by the signifying factor behind such statues, it would
be a relief, which I guess goes back to the first point, in a way. Keeping up those statues just
wouldn’t be fair for those individuals.
Sources
Cox, Karen L. Why Confederate Monuments Must Fall. The New York Times, The New York Times, 15
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
And struggles of that time period back for many. Position on the issue of the statue removal : supports the side that vouches for removal. I personally feel that when a statue is erected, especially of a person, it is to honor the thing or person that it has erected. A statue is a monument that is more often than not, looked fondly upon. It is a symbol of history that represents, again more often than not, an achievement or victory of that time period being represented, and it is meant to last forever. However, not every significant object, person, or thing in history triggers such fond memories and markers of achievement or victory historically, and this is certainly the case of the robert e. It"s just how some people, objects, or things, (even some time periods!) if immortalized, would bring about the grief individuals.
