Does erasing history cure racism?

[cannon_fodder]

Of course, I may be over-thinking the problem.  The question was, and should be "What will renaming streets or schools really, really accomplish?"

The answer needs to have a lot more substance than "Its just something we can do."

Yes, there was a bandwagon to remove perceived symbols of hate after extreme acts of violence in the name of hate.  A far better reaction than retaliatory acts of violence, but no one is going to say Americans aren't prone to jumping on a bandwagon.

And yes, those symbols may have once stood for something else.  In the context of a Hindu temple I understand seeing a swastika, but that symbol has otherwise been well and truly obfuscated.   Some symbols will never be taken back.  Others are more complex.

The reason to rename schools, roads, or remove monuments is to demonstrate that what they are now perceived to stand for is not something the community wants to celebrate.  This isn't about making on group or another happy.  It's about a message from the community about what it values.  Generally, communities don't name a school or put up a statute to "remember history" if that isn't something they hold out as worthy of celebration or intending it to send another message.  Truly, I can't think of a monument or naming right a community has done that is of something they dislike.

So when the community determines it is no longer wants to celebrate it or no longer appreciates the message, then take down the statute or rename the school.  It sends the message that the community has moved on and no long wishes to celebrate whatever meaning the monument has taken on (which may or may not be the same meaning initially intended). 

In the context of civil war monuments, I can't say it as well as the Mayor of New Orleans, so I won't try.   I'd encourage you to read his words on why New Orleans decided to remove its statutes (a move that I admit I was kind of sad to see before reading his explanation, the "old south" atmosphere seemed like part of New Orleans nastaulgia):
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/05/23/read_mitch_landrieu_s_confederate_monuments_speech.html

These statues are not just stone and metal. They are not just innocent remembrances of a benign history. These monuments purposefully celebrate a fictional, sanitized Confederacy, ignoring the death, ignoring the enslavement and the terror that it actually stood for. After the Civil War, these statues were a part of that terrorism as much as a burning cross on someone's lawn; they were erected purposefully to send a strong message to all who walked in their shadows about who was still in charge in this city.

[BKDotCom]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/08/22/the-lie-of-maintaining-confederate-monuments-in-the-name-of-history/?utm_term=.fac2b7ab0786

Defenders of Confederate statues want us to believe not only that a statue is the only way to remember a historical figure, but also that a statue is value-neutral. It's just "history," not a commentary on the righteousness of the cause for which those men fought. This, too, is completely ludicrous. We don't put up statues simply to say "Here's a thing that happened." If we did, there would be statues of O.J. Simpson and Balloon Boy. We put up statues to honor, venerate and exalt the people who we are commemorating. There's no clearer way to say "This person is a hero whose acts we celebrate" than putting up a statue of them.

That's exactly why those statues were erected in the first place: To celebrate the Confederate cause. And they were erected at times when whites in the South were particularly eager to assert white supremacy: most after the end of Reconstruction, with another wave during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

I think a balloon boy-statue would be cool.

[patric]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/08/22/the-lie-of-maintaining-confederate-monuments-in-the-name-of-history/?utm_term=.fac2b7ab0786

I think a balloon boy-statue would be cool.

We were promised a Satanic Baphomet monument not too long ago.  Might have been good for tourism...  


But getting back to our city leaders, I havent heard any suggestions for a new school name.
I dont think any kid really wants to brag about going to "Reconciliation Elementary" for fear it sounds like some school-to-prison pipeline.

Sort of like "Repeal and Replace" where they havent quite worked out the second part?

Maybe we could name it after the Taiwanese-American film director?   Very Cosmopolitan, and we'd save money not having to buy new letterhead.

[BKDotCom]

Maybe we could name it after the Taiwanese-American film director?   Very Cosmopolitan, and we'd save money not having to buy new letterhead.

I've been stumping for Sara Lee. 
Tasty snack cakes for all.

[cannon_fodder]

Bruce
Tommy
Stan
Spike
Brandon

Actually, I kind of like Harper.  Harper Lee Elementary isn't a bad name at all.  I fully realize it is a half-solution, but if it makes everyone happy and saves coin.... it is a fitting name.

[Conan71]

Bruce
Tommy
Stan
Spike
Brandon

Actually, I kind of like Harper.  Harper Lee Elementary isn't a bad name at all.  I fully realize it is a half-solution, but if it makes everyone happy and saves coin.... it is a fitting name.

Bruce & Brandon- shows respect for Asians
Tommy- can't do that, imagine the anatomically-correct statue 
Spike- should make the BLM faction happy
Harper- a great literary legend that works well with an educational institution

I just remembered my stepfather's brother's name was Robert.  I guess they should change the name on his headstone to avoid offending anyone.

[BKDotCom]

I just remembered my stepfather's brother's name was Robert.  I guess they should change the name on his headstone to avoid offending anyone.

Names don't offend, people do.
Also difference between gravesite and statue honoring said individual.
There's also the whole free speech thing.

[Conan71]

Names don't offend, people do.
Also difference between gravesite and statue honoring said individual.
There's also the whole free speech thing.

So he was a proctologist?

And then there is this stupidity or over-sensitivity:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41022954

[BKDotCom]

And then there is this stupidity or over-sensitivity:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41022954

Double face palm

UNLESS his asian-american parents named him after the confederate general?!
/s

[patric]

Harper- a great literary legend that works well with an educational institution

I just remembered my stepfather's brother's name was Robert.  I guess they should change the name on his headstone to avoid offending anyone.

New Yorkers are now taking aim at the Christopher Columbus statue in Columbus Circle and the tomb of Ulysses S. Grant.
Some object to the Theodore Roosevelt statue outside the Museum of Natural History, and others suggest the name "New York" itself may have to go because the Duke of York was a slave trader.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2017/08/23/a9e29ea6-8849-11e7-a50f-e0d4e6ec070a_story.html

[Hoss]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2017/08/22/espn-pulls-announcer-robert-lee-off-virginia-game-charlottesville-protests/592458001/

The decision for the person to call or not call the game wasn't made by the network evidently, nor was he pressured to do one thing or another.

[swake]

Bruce
Tommy
Stan
Spike
Brandon

Actually, I kind of like Harper.  Harper Lee Elementary isn't a bad name at all.  I fully realize it is a half-solution, but if it makes everyone happy and saves coin.... it is a fitting name.

S.E. Hinton Elementary

It's overdue.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

S.E. Hinton Elementary

It's overdue.

Nope. Battle of classes. Upper versus lower class. Too much diversity everyone has to be equal. Same for Titanic, everyone should have been treated equally, and should have had equal opportunity to be rescued.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Need to change it from Lee to something like Compton, Watts, Chicago, Detroit, Selma, Rodney King, OJ Simpson, Michael Brown, Ferguson, Baltimore, Freddie Gray, Marilyn Mosby, Tawana Brawley, Al $harpton, Maxine Waters. Then it will be named right and no one will be offended.

[guido911]

You know what cures racism? More racism. This ESPN mess with Robert Lee is unbelievable.