confederate

16Feb

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Will Monuments Honoring People Of Color Replace Old Statues Of Confederate Generals That Are Slowly Disappearing

With most of the legal challenges resolved after the violent Unite the Right rally, and the statue of Robert E. Lee removed from its lofty pedestal in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, local lawmakers in December 2021 voted to do the unimaginable – donate the statue to the local Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. In turn, the nonprofit cultural group quickly announced its plan to melt down the bronze statue and use it as raw material for a new public artwork. What the group plans to build is still an open question, but it clearly will not be another statue honoring the Lost Cause of the Confederacy, the idea that slavery was a benevolent institution and the Confederate cause was just. As part of America’s reckoning with its oppressive past, Charlottesville and the rest ...

To Defend Confederate Monuments – And Sam Houston’s Legacy – Texas Distorts Its Past

12Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

POLITICS

To Defend Confederate Monuments – And Sam Houston’s Legacy – Texas Distorts Its Past

At least 160 Confederate symbols were removed from public spaces across the United States in 2020, according to the the Southern Poverty Law Center. Even Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy, has removed a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee from the Richmond Statehouse and is trying to take down others seen as offensive by an increasing numbers of Americans, including those whose ancestors were enslaved. Huntsville reveres hometown hero Sam Houston. And he did not revere the Confederacy. Jimmy Henderson/flickr, CC BY-SA Texas has largely declined to participate in this nationwide reckoning with the symbols of the Old South. Instead, local officials are doubling down on their Confederate monuments. Republican State Sen. Brandon Creighton, who represents the city of Conroe, near Houst...

What should replace Confederate statues?

5Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

What should replace Confederate statues?

Ever since the University of South Carolina put up a statue of Richard T. Greener – who in 1873 became the school’s first Black professor – one of my favorite things to do has been to eat lunch on a bench nearby to watch how people interact with it. Greener – who taught for four years when the university was desegregated during Reconstruction – went on to become a widely recognized lawyer, scholar, diplomat and activist for racial justice. Some people come to the statue with a purpose, often to show it to others and take pictures. Others pass by and look at Greener’s likeness with curiosity. Usually when they read the plaque at the base, they pause with a look of surprise. I watch them read the plaque again and then walk around the statue as if to evaluate if this story could be true. A ...

In Confederate statue debates, common values can bring meaningful resolution

5Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

In Confederate statue debates, common values can bring meaningful resolution

The U.S. is engaged in a national debate about how to deal with monuments to Confederate leaders, enslavers and other historical figures with complex, and often racist, histories. As a scholar and practitioner of organizational communication, I often find myself in the middle of similarly protracted conflicts, working to get people with very different views to resolve their differences. A key step in that process is for each person to confront the fact that even people who disagree with them are, in fact, fellow humans inherently worthy of dignity and respect. Often, people seek clear decisions and quick action in response to disturbing feelings about the past. That may feel righteous in the moment but can be divisive, and often ignores complexities in a society’s cultural fabric. My r...

Confederate flags fly worldwide, igniting social tensions and inflaming historic traumas

17Jul

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Confederate flags fly worldwide, igniting social tensions and inflaming historic traumas

The United States isn’t the only country debating Confederate symbols. The Confederate flag can be seen flying in Ireland, Germany, Brazil and beyond. Sometimes, the red-white-and-blue-crossed flag is seemingly displayed as kitsch, a kind of Americana. Brazil’s ‘Festa Confederada.’ Organizers say the annual event celebrates their Southern American heritage, but some Black Brazilians disagree. Jordan Brasher, CC BY-SA Other times, its display conveys a political meaning more reflective of the flag’s origins in the slave-holding, Southern American republic. Wherever the Confederacy crops up, controversy usually follows. My academic research as a cultural geographer traces how Confederate iconography gets stitched into the cultural fabric of places thousands of miles from the United States....

Sexual Violence And The Confederate Flag

26Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Sexual Violence And The Confederate Flag

As a Black woman born in Louisiana, I was elated by NASCAR’s and the U.S. Navy and Marine’s decision to ban the Confederate flag because those are three fewer places where a flag that represents systematic torture is flown. Supporters of the stars and bars love to argue that the flag stands for rebellion, and that flying the flag is not “about slavery,” but about the pride of being from the South. However, the flag makes me think of something else: violence—sexual violence, in particular. It reminds me of Sam, Louisa, Ann, Henrietta, and Florence, who refused to let their trauma die in silence. Sam and Louisa Everett did not have a beautiful floral June wedding. Louisa, on her wedding day, did not wear a white dress with flowers decorating her hair. Sam did not wear a nice suit. There wa...

Confederate Christmas ornaments small statues that send the same racist message

19Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Confederate Christmas ornaments small statues that send the same racist message

As Christmas approaches, many families undertake a familiar ritual: an annual sojourn to the attic, basement or closet to pull out a box of treasured ornaments bought, created and collected over years, even generations. Hanging these ornaments on the tree is an opportunity to reconnect with memories of personal milestones, holiday icons and, in many cases, destinations visited. But, I argue, it may be time to take some of these old travel keepsakes off the tree. Decorated with ornaments purchased, created and inherited for years, even generations, Christmas trees are a reflection of a family’s history and tastes. John Morgan/flickr, CC BY-SA In researching my 2019 book, “Confederate Exceptionalism,” I studied sites throughout the American South whose histories are tied to enslaved labor....