Rudyard Kipling’s late nineteenth century poem (“Recessional”) made reference to times of war, losses, and sacrifice. The most noted phrase of the poem, lest we forget, implored us to remember the consequences of past triumphs and actions, to both honor and mourn. I would like to use this phrase, here, solely from a research perspective. I encourage you to consider merely this one, narrow aspect of lest we forget, temporarily putting aside politics, race, and history, to entertain an additional potential factor about the removal of statues, film, and books from the American awareness.
I am not an historian, theorist, or politician. I am a psychologist who works with individual clients after having retired from an academic position with an urban university. One of the academic roles I most enjoyed was participating with students in the completion of their doctoral dissertations. I learned from the doctoral candidates the value of exhausting the already published research data to inform their own summary conclusions. Many candidates would obsess over identifying absolutely every possible source and including each in their review of literature. I remember many dissertation meetings where committee members would bring a candidate to tears because they had not included that member’s favorite theoretician in their literature review. Through that lens, the term lest we forget, forces me to obsess about the valuable data and information we lose with each statue, book, and film that disappears.
Again, please forgo politics and race (as impossible as that sounds), when considering statues, books, film, and the like, as valuable data or artifacts, or sources of information. I realize that in asking you to overlook race I risk being stereotyped as a racist, or “color blind,” or biased. Yet, my encouragement to consider artifacts and data is framed in the practice of exhausting the available data. There could be reasons that Black Americans may find it useful to preserve the data about Robert E. Lee, or Gone with the Wind, for example. In a June 2020 New York Times article/interview by Jonah Engel Bromwich with art historian Erin Thompson, she stated, “…protesters are attacking symbols of a hateful past as part of fighting for a peaceful future…. So if people lose hope in the possibility of a peaceful resolution, they’re going to find other means.” Yet, removing the evidence, the data, that there has been a “hateful past,” we sacrifice the proof, the information that brought this country to this point in history. The case for peace, the reasons for protests, are lost forever.
The title of a June 7, 2020, Washington Post article about the removal of the Robert E. Lee Statue in Virginia stated, “Take Down his Statue and Let his Cause be Lost.” And this is exactly my point. Later, the author, Robert W. Lee, IV, wrote, “The statue is a hollow reminder of a painful ideology and acts of oppression against black people. Taking it down will provide new opportunities for conversations, relationships and policy change.” I suggest, in contrary, that without the evidence or the data, without the historical context and the proof of “painful ideology and acts of oppression,” the called-for conversations lose the sources needed to justify policy change. Lest we forget.
And what about Gone With the Wind, a film that won ten Academy Awards in 1940, was one of the first use of TechniColor, which dramatically depicts the look of the South in each of the key historical periods: antebellum, postbellum, and reconstruction? The film is a depiction of change, not only the change of a naïve Southern belle to a resourceful, successful businesswoman, but also a depiction of the change experienced by the entire nation. The film contains the data and documentation of one filmmaker’s view of that change, but it therefore also demonstrates that change can actually happen. From the research lens, we could all wonder why, at this time in our history, the film’s data and evidence has been deleted from streaming services. Gone With the Wind documents without glorifying slavery, classism, privilege, racism, and gender inequities. Why would any of us want the data and evidence to disappear from our consciousness? Lest we forget.
Granted, the research lens of data, documentation, artifact is limited. I wonder, though, how many generations will it take before Americans ask “who was Robert E. Lee?” and “What was Gone With the Wind even about?” We have to ask: what important information are we sacrificing, for either side of a political debate, when we destroy the evidence? We lose the chance to learn, and we also lose the opportunity to form our own opinion, when the data are incomplete, missing, or biased.
Friday, June 19, 2020, Juneteenth—a day that marked the anniversary of the end of slavery in the U.S.—was “celebrated” by an angry fringe pulling down and defacing a statue of George Washington with the phrase “Destroy the Racist.” By destroying a commemoration of contributions of the first U.S. president, we lose a great deal of data, evidence, proof, objective information about a past we may not want to completely forget, including that he owned slaves.
The following (and incomplete) list of Juneteenth defaced and toppled statues is long, but each deserves being noted:
- San Francisco, CA: Junipero Serra (Spanish priest – “Stolen Land” now written on remaining base), Francis Scott Key (lyricist of Star Spangled Banner – now reads “Slave Owner” and ”Stolen Land and Stolen People”), President Ulysses S Grant (general of the Union army that ended slavery in the United States – “Adios America”), and a statue of Don Quixote and the author who created him, Miquel de Cervantes.
- San Pedro, CA: Juan Rodriquez Cabillo (conquistador, is now painted as “colonizer”), Senator Mallory White.
- New London, CT; Columbus, OH; Houston, TX; Boston, MA: Christopher Columbus (in Houston, the statue was defaced with “Rip the Head from your Oppressor”).
- Miami, FL: Juan Ponce de Leon (defaced on June 17, 2020)
- Dexter, MI: La Raza sculpture (Spanish word for Race or community, repainted sculpture figures are now black, yellow, and brown, red).
- Albuquerque, NM: Juan de Onate (conquistador, now in red paint “racist murderer”).
- Raleigh, NC: Two confederate soldiers (one honoring the first NC soldier who died during the Civil War, the other dedicated to the women of the Confederacy – these statues were dragged down the street and one hanged from a light post in a mock lynching).
- Rochester, NY: Nathaniel Rochester (defaced statue of city founder painted with “shame,” on his forehead, “stole indigenous lands” and “abolish the police”).
- Portland, OR: George Washington (painted with “You are on Native land,” draped in a burning American flag, and torn down), Thomas Jefferson (author of the Declaration of Independence).
- Austin, TX: Three statues of Confederate leaders on the University of Texas campus (vandalized with “Black Lives Matter” and “bump all the chumps”).
- U.S. House of Representatives: removed portraits of four former House Speakers who served with the Confederacy (at the order of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi).
- Richmond VA: Robert E. Lee (Confederate general), Arthur Ashe (American tennis champion – defaced with “White Lives Matter” then painted over with “Black Lives Matter”)
- Washington, DC: Albert Pike (Confederate General, toppled and burned), George Preston Marshall (First NFL owner of Washington Redskins – painted with “change the name”).
Lest we forget.
I would be remiss if I recommend not destroying data without the mention of alternatives. Maybe some of these statues should come down in the end, but not this way. Maybe Confederate statues could be replaced with something that maintains the historic data and meaning, while not honoring the memory of something like slavery. If that’s the case, the process and content should be decided through the appropriate channels, not by vandals. The removal of every statute, film, picture, or account could be subjected to American democratic and civic processes. Rather than destroying our historic data, could the artifacts be turned into opportunities for conversion, dialogue, and education? For example, a statue of a Confederate general could remain while plaques are installed that offer the history lesson documenting both contribution and comment from multiple and diverse perspectives. The vandals may be reenacting the very process of which they object—the presentation of one view, one perspective, one voice, without including the diverse voices of this nation. Such an alternative could provide the “new opportunities for conversations, relationships and policy change” called for by Robert W. Lee, IV.
As the evidence for injustices exit our country, we are left with emotions that hinder communication and understanding. The opportunity is lost to stand beneath a statue representing the actions and principles of our past and to acknowledge the need for continued growth and change in our future. I implore us all to not deplete the data and proof. We must not lose the reminder—lest we forget. We must not want to forget because we do not want to repeat the errors of our past.
The Vietnam War protesters of the 1960s were told to “sit down!” I choose to not sit down and watch our artifacts painted over without acknowledging the importance of remembering the whole story of our history. Lest we forget why and for what we stand.
16 comments
If we look at George Floyd’s extensive felony convictions for pistol whipping pregnant women, selling drugs, theft and armed robbery I don’t think his statues should remain. The vicious felon certainly should not replace MLK as the shining symbol of black America! People living in glass houses should be careful about throwing rocks at statues!
Your list omits religious statues destroyed during the same period of time. Chattanooga TN., statue of the Holy Mother decapitated by activists. Probably a dozen score more across the country, supposedly because, “Mary wasn’t white,” but really of course for the same reason that statues of the Buddha have been destroyed, Taoist shrines desecrated, and Hindu temples attacked.
Ultimately, I am convinced that the only way to defeat truly ugly ideas is with truly beautiful ideas; the only way to defeat truly bad ideas is with truly good ideas.
The Woke Revolution will have really met its match once we have successfully gone beyond masterfully critiquing their insane ideas and policies and putting forward new original works of beauty, new future-orientated ideas and visions, and an approach which demonstrates at once the timeless truth of Western civilization’s foundational principles, but also does so by demonstrating how these timeless principles can be once again renewed and originally applied to our own unique and challenging age. While the principles are the same, the predicates will always be changing.
This is the challenge for all great art, and all truly great ideas.
So many people have told me if you want true Chinese culture go to Taiwan. Not China. Maoists did all they could to erase Chinese culture using similar methods. So did the Bolsheviks and the Taliban.
There is a pattern why totalitarians need to erase history so that we cannot learn from it.
Part of the failure of the argument from the iconoclasts is their reduction of all possible reasons for having the statue to *one thing*.
A stone on the street corner in Virginia once used as an auction block for slaves was removed. To them, it is an act of psychic aggression against blacks, BUT it is also a reminder to all Americans of the sins of the past.
To them, a statue of Lee is nostalgia for slavery, but to many, Lee is revered for the same reason that General Sherman is STILL fiercely reviled. Any victory by Lee meant a greater chance than a son, a brother, or a father would come home alive.
Ironic they would tear down a statue of Cervantes, who was himself held as a slave for 5 years on the Barbary coast. Ironic, or just plain ignorance? Or worse: purposeful ignorance. How can white people not be slaves, even though they be held, in fact, as slaves? White privilege. Mind benders.
Their ignorance is mixed with a taste for perversity, a tendency to absurdity, and a habit of aggression. They are inflamed by a self-righteousness not seen in a long time. How they think such a corrupt take on life will lead to the improvement of things, heaven only knows.
I see some of this as just the consolidation of the victory of the North over the South. Making the rebel flag synonymous with racism is a part of making sure the South will never rise again. Ironically, the latest push to diminish that flag kicked off at about the same time the rebels in the east of Ukraine were fighting against the Eurofication of Ukraine under a very similar flag (just without the stars).
Removing the signs of southern power and history of the war also serves to paper over the North’s part in the slaughter and sacking of the South.
The problem is, it has gone way beyond the USA.
The author of this piece makes a fundamental error in writing it. She presumes that those who are engaged in iconoclasm have an interest in data. Simply put, they don’t. If they did, people like Rayshuan Brooks and Mike Brown wouldn’t be lumped in with people like George Floyd, Eric Garner, and Walter Scott. This isn’t about objective data. This is about “other ways of knowing” ie Testimony (capitalized to coincide with the obvious religious connotations). The iconoclast doesn’t need objective evidence of racism or oppression to justify their views. It is merely enough for them to feel that it is true that they are oppressed or that systemic racism exists. In point of fact, most of them would be offended by a request for objective proof. You would be “marginalizing their lived experiences” or “questioning their humanity” in doing so. They lose nothing of value from their perspective by not knowing who Robert E. Lee is because it was never about whatever objective data can be drawn from his existence. It’s merely about feelings and the power those who have them feel they are entitled to as a result of those feelings. I can only suspect that George Santayana has been doing a continuous somersault in his grave with the ascendancy of the Woke. Especially given how many of the historical mistakes the Woke are priming themselves to make that those who’s statutes they are tearing down made themselves.
No one is wanting to erase the past. These monuments harm people today and help keep an ideology that has no place in our country alive. We fought a war over it. History will now record that they were taken down and destroyed or relegated to a museum 150 years after that war in the ongoing healing of our nation. There is plenty of history of that war – the remembrance of it won’t be lost. Just drive from Connecticut to Georgia and visit the battlefields and cemeteries where the blood of this nation was shed towards eliminating the disease of slavery from this land.
Monuments only harm people if the monument falls on them, or they climb on the monument and fall off.
There is no harm whatsoever caused by statues, or busts, or paintings unless they topple onto you.
You talk about healing. I don’t see any. I see violence engulfing many – too many – streets in the USA, and beyond. If you can’t or won’t commit to non-violent protest, then you’ve lost. Violence causes physical and psychological harm. BLM and its supporters need to renounce violence and refuse violence, if they are to have any credibility when it comes to protesting against police brutality.
Police brutality is real. Obsessing about statues is displacement activity.
Deal with the police brutality.
Critical Race Theory unashamedly involves rejecting history and embracing what it calls Revisionist History.
Revisionist History is an extremely dangerous road to go down. It is not only erasing the past, it is rewriting it to suit a political agenda.
Healing is a good idea. If people spent as much time healing themselves as they spend being violent, committing acts of vandalism, and verbally abusing the innocent, society would progress rapidly.
The USA city of Charlottesville has undergone a lengthy process of deliberation on what to do about park names and statues. They renamed 2 of their parks – then renamed them again. They’ve tried to remove statues.
I tried searching their website for these renamed parks, but I only had their original names. The search engine on the city’s website returned no links when I used the original names of the parks and there were no redirects in place saying words to the effect of ‘You searched for Jackson Park, but it’s been renamed to Court Square Park and here’s the new link you need”.
Their website used to have pages on the history of their parks Jackson Park and Lee Park. Not anymore. The links to the *history* pages are gone, replaced with generic ‘not found’ messages. Can’t even find them on Wayback Archive.
Presumably new history pages are being written (at least, hopefully they are), but the old ones are gone.
I beg to differ Barbara. These ignorant, and narcissistic people of the ‘woke’ crowd, or whatever they want to call themselves, definitely do want to erase our history. They want to destroy this country, and anything in it they don’t like. They are evil people.
As a teenager coming from the west coast, to the east coast for the first time, one thing I truly enjoyed was seeing all the historical art, sculptures, plaques, graveyards, etc. The art very much struck me, and brought on a greater appreciation for this countries history. These evil, destructive people want to destroy this for future generations. They are nothing more than our version of the Taliban. They infuriate me, along with those that do nothing to stop this madness since it IS ruining our historical art, and understanding for future generations.
I very much appreciate Sarah’s article here.
What an insightful piece of commentary. When this newest phase of our current moral panic began, I was immediately reminded of what Winston’s actual profession was in 1984. The daily revision and removal of facts and events that were no longer favorable to the narrative INGSOC wanted to push that day. Whether it was deleting people from history, or the careful editing of words not in line with Newspeak, his role mirrors the current wave of shortsighted rage against facts and events from our collective recent and distant past. In the same way that I wonder what MLK would think of the current BLM movement, I also wonder what Orwell would think about this new wave of wanting to erase portions of U.S. history that elements of the new left find unsavory. Thank you again for your thoughts.