A Black Lives Matter activist was seriously injured during his participation in the destruction of a Confederate monument in Portsmouth, Virginia on Friday night. He was trying to move people out of the way when the statue fell on him.
Ref: Portsmouth Demonstration
More idiotic liberalism on display. Someone was going to get injured/killed eventually. It is a shame for it did not have to happen.
Well, in their defense the "professionals" left the idol untouched since its erection in 1876. It was a monument to honor the dead soldiers who lost thier lives fighting to maintain a rebellion against our democracy based upon their desire to oppress, enslave, and committ genocide against people of color. Or as shitkickers like to call it "celebrating our non-racist heritage".
People of color in that community likely were tired of seeing it untouched in their main street square for 150 years while "the professionals" planted flowers around it and gave it a new coat of paint every so often.
By contrast-
This is what Iraqis did to Sadam Hussein's statue days after he was deposed of leadership. There's wasn't a big backlash of people who tried to stop it in the spirit of celebrating their heritiage. Weird, huh?
One of the most effective generals for the Confederates was General Longstreet, but there are basically no monuments or military installations named after him. Why? Because after the war he supported Reconstruction and giving rights to the former slaves.
The statues have always been about racism.
Another opinion - Monuments to Confederate soldiers were not put up to glorify slavery or any lost Confederate cause, but to memorialize great men and fallen soldiers. They were put up in recognition of great, albeit imperfect, leaders of the South, those who served our country well before the Civil War, but who were faithful to their home state. When we look at these memorials as tributes to slavery, we are ignoring their intended purpose. It isn’t fair to look at the past through the lens of today. No historical figure could pass the test. But if these monuments do remind us of slavery, perhaps that is a good thing. Let’s leave them up to remind future generations of the past. Let’s put up new monuments alongside to celebrate the elimination of slavery.
Originally posted by: Don
A Black Lives Matter activist was seriously injured during his participation in the destruction of a Confederate monument in Portsmouth, Virginia on Friday night. He was trying to move people out of the way when the statue fell on him.
Ref: Portsmouth Demonstration
Don, I guess nobody reads the titles of threads anymore. I've never attempted to destroy a monument, but I can guess why it should be done with the right expertise, tools, safety precautions.
As the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. I hope the injured person recovers OK.
The statues that are, were and need to come down, I have no problem with them gone.
They were put up during the Jim Crow era and have no historical value.
The ones that commemorate a battle such as the Gettysburg Battlefield statues should stay.
JMHO
Originally posted by: David Miller
Another opinion - Monuments to Confederate soldiers were not put up to glorify slavery or any lost Confederate cause, but to memorialize great men and fallen soldiers. They were put up in recognition of great, albeit imperfect, leaders of the South, those who served our country well before the Civil War, but who were faithful to their home state. When we look at these memorials as tributes to slavery, we are ignoring their intended purpose. It isn’t fair to look at the past through the lens of today. No historical figure could pass the test. But if these monuments do remind us of slavery, perhaps that is a good thing. Let’s leave them up to remind future generations of the past. Let’s put up new monuments alongside to celebrate the elimination of slavery.
Well said. And while we’re at it we can erect a statue of Osama Bin Laden....like maybe in your front yard. Not as a celebration of 911 but just to tribute a flawed man who was loyal to his cause...and was an ally of the United States in the first gulf war. Cause, ya know, history....and education or something.
Originally posted by: David Miller
Another opinion - Monuments to Confederate soldiers were not put up to glorify slavery or any lost Confederate cause, but to memorialize great men and fallen soldiers. They were put up in recognition of great, albeit imperfect, leaders of the South, those who served our country well before the Civil War, but who were faithful to their home state. When we look at these memorials as tributes to slavery, we are ignoring their intended purpose. It isn’t fair to look at the past through the lens of today. No historical figure could pass the test. But if these monuments do remind us of slavery, perhaps that is a good thing. Let’s leave them up to remind future generations of the past. Let’s put up new monuments alongside to celebrate the elimination of slavery.
Traitors are not great men. Those who fought against the United States were traitors. Many fought well and many generals fought brilliantly. That extended the period in which three million human beings were held in bondage and increased the number of battle deaths. Not heroic at all.
Trump is a traitor; yet, millions idolize him. The number of deaths resulting from his actions hasn't reached the number of deaths in the Civil War. But he's trying!
Those monuments are there so Southern losers can look up to them and dream of the time when Black people were not treated as humans and were considered property. What's ironic is that the average poor White man was worse off because slavery meant that he couldn't sell his labor; yet, thousands rushed off to defend and die for the system that kept them poor.
That ain't worth a memorial.
Originally posted by: MisterPicture
One of the most effective generals for the Confederates was General Longstreet, but there are basically no monuments or military installations named after him. Why? Because after the war he supported Reconstruction and giving rights to the former slaves.
The statues have always been about racism.
It's ironic. Lee could have won at Gettysburg, simply by marching around the Federal army, as Longstreet pleaded with him to do. The Federals would have had no choice to abandon the high ground they were holding, and fight the battle on much less advantageous terms.
Then, he pleaded with Lee not to allow Pickett's Charge, saying it was bound to fail. He was right.
As a result (???), Longstreet was excoriated by Southern historians, blaming him for the "glorious Lost Cause." He continued to say that Lee was an idiot for fighting a modern war with Napoleonic tactics. That never sat well with Southerners. So they never put up any statues to him, even though he was actually a much better general than Lee ever was.
And yes, his support for treating former slaves as human beings didn't earn him any points, either.
