I'd say Cruz's statement is an example of the Overton Window shifting to the left, such that even Republicans have to become PC if they want to attain/hold office. That said, and with further review on my part, this worship of Nathan Bedford Forrest is unseemly at best. I just despise and lament the PC ethos that wants to topple every Confederate statue; which, at first glance, this episode seemed to be part of.
As I’ve heard from many different people. Put them in a museum perhaps. Not on the main square. Where perhaps someone driving by had their great grandparent they had known as a child could have been enslaved or lynched by the person the statue is portraying. It’s quite simple. Those assholes should not be glorified. And a statue in a small town or otherwise does just that.
Your solution is not a bad one; it's pretty good. Although, I could see the creation of a new "confederate statues" wing in a museum creating just as much controversy. Also it should be noted: is the purpose of a statue to venerate? Probably for the most part, it is. But I don't know that it has to or should necessarily be seen in that light. It could also be a sign of "here's what we did in the 19th century. Let's not do that again." Lastly, once we tear down all the confederate statues, what's next? Tear down all the Washington and Jefferson statues as well? They were slaveholders too.
I knew a few Presidents owned slaves. But I just looked it up and 12 presidents did. Wow But no I don’t agree with that. I’m not sure I know how to articulate how that is different than confederate statues. Too tired right now
Depends. A riot where they tear it down and smash it to pieces? Or an orderly disassembly where it is moved off government land and/or placed somewhere for historical record? Either way, you're changing the subject.
1) Riot or otherwise, it doesn't matter. I'm opposed to the whitewashing of history. (no pun intended) 2) How am I changing the subject? Pretty much all this stuff -- statues; Nathan Bedford Forrest Day -- comes from the history of the Confederacy and the Ante Bellum south slavery system.
History doesn't have to be praised. I'm sure there are Nazi relics in German museums but there aren't Nazi monuments and statues out in public because those imply praise, not acknowleding history.
He could have taken a lesson from the Trump playbook -- refuse to do it and dare someone to take him to court to force him to. Or, of course, they could change the law. He proclaimed it because he wanted to proclaim it. Maybe not because he loves Forrest, but at least because he didn't care enough to overcome the inertia required to do otherwise. So, I'm fine with giving him his share of the blame. Our slave-owning presidents have statues up for the good things they did to build up the country and despite their slaveholding. Guys like Robert E Lee and Bedford Forrest have statues up specifically for their efforts to divide the country for the sake of slaveholding. I think the motives of those who commissioned the statues are at least as important as the lives of the men honored. The statues in the South, plus all the buildings and streets named after Confederates and these proclamations, were a big Jim Crow middle finger motivated by the bitterness Southerners had about the war and the empowerment of blacks. When you side with the preservation of these artifacts of Southern heritage you implicitly endorse the Southern rancor that produced it. The honor we pay to our slaveholding presidents was not born out of resentment and anger the way the honor we've paid to the rebels was born of those negative feelings. Maybe today, a Southerner can look at Bedford Forrest with some detachment, but those guys who passed the law saying Forrest Day shall be declared every year were not detached, they were pissed off that the Yankees abolished slavery and tried to make blacks equal citizens. It was a law passed in hatred.
How is it whitewashing history if my famous ancestor raped and tortured yours and now stands tall in a governing institution that should uphold democratic principles? History is already whitewashed in public schools, yet their mostly mediocre students assume they know all the hard parts. It's these same forces who keep future children deliberately ignorant that are complaining the loudest against taking down the statues on public grounds.
