The Statue Thing

Some folks think that the "statue thing" is a very straightforward matter.  It is simply dead wrong to remove statues.  They embody not only our heritage but our national history, and if we erase history we are doomed to repeat it.

Others feel that it is just as clear that the statues must go.  These folks think that people venerated by these statues committed treason (for example, by fighting the union and supporting slavery), and they should come down.  Right now.

I think that they are both wrong.  

The "statue thing" is neither simple or clear.

For example, my great, great, great, great grandfather 'owned' over 600 enslaved people.  And there is a big bronze statue of him that sits in a domed, colonnaded, neoclassical Pantheon right on the tidal basin.  Yep, that tidal basin, in Washington DC.  

Do we really want to tear down the statue of Thomas Jefferson?  

Well, he also wrote the Declaration of Independence, one of the cornerstones of our democracy. And he was a man of the times, which for a gentleman farmer in the Virginia of the 1700s, that necessarily included owning slaves, or so it was thought back then.

OK that is one hell of a mitigating circumstance.  But then again, slavery was one hell of a sin. 

So, it's complicated.

Statue or Monument?
To unravel some of this complexity, it is important that we agree on a couple of definitions:
  • A statue is a three dimensional depiction of a person which in some way celebrates that person.   It is an endorsement of that individual - if a community goes to all the trouble of putting up a statue, it puts the subject in a positive light.
  • A monument is a three dimensional object built for commemorative reasons.   Monuments should be impartial, and are meant to document an event.  They don't imply whether the event, or person depicted in the event is good or bad, only that something happened and it was significant. 
Sometimes, a statue can be a monument.


  • There is a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.  It sits atop the Virginia Memorial. There is also a statue of Lt General James Longstreet within the park.  Both were key leaders for the Confederacy.
  • These two statues are monuments.  They are clearly situated in a historic setting, and are there to document and help explain the historical record.  They are there to teach, and to have people examine, question, and wonder about the great battle and its circumstances.
Other times, a statue is clearly not a monument.


  • There is a statue of General Robert E. Lee in a town park in the village of Richmond Hill, Georgia.  
  • This is an example of a statue that is not a monument.  The location of the statue has no historical context that I can find.  Hell, I don't even know if General Lee ever even slept there.
  • The purpose of placing a statue of General Lee in such a place serves to honor him and his actions, as an example for the people in that community ... what people should tell their kids to model themselves after.  
  • The statue venerates Robert E. Lee but does not provide historical context.
Sometimes a statue starts out being a monument, then as times change, it reverts to being a non-monument.


  • There is a statue at the Museum of Natural History in New York City commemorating one of its favorite sons, Teddy Roosevelt.  The Rough Rider is accompanied by an African man and a Native American man, one on each side. 
  • Teddy is mounted very proudly on his horse.  The Native American and African are walking next to him.  Neither is on a horse.  
  • Back when the statue was installed, it was obviously intended to be a monument to Manifest Destiny. The idea that the "white man rules" and is in the process of "civilizing" the Western US and Africa was accepted dogma at the time.  It was a statement of 'fact'.  It made sense at that point in time to create a monument.
  • Today, this arrangement commemorates something that is no longer appropriate or acceptable in our 21st century, and it has become an eyesore. (It is in the process of being removed.)
Sometimes a statue is called a monument, but it is really just a statue. 

  • There is a statue called "Robert E. Lee Monument" in Richmond, Virginia.  It depicts the man mounted on his horse.   
  • It is located on Monument Avenue in Richmond, which is the site of other statues of Confederate veterans, including Stonewall Jackson and J.E.B. Stuart. 
  • Sticking with our definition of a monument, one could argue that the Civil War did take place, and Richmond was the capitol of the Confederacy.  These are, indeed, facts, and they are significant.  
  • However, solely documenting the heroes of the Confederacy makes the would-be monuments incomplete and leaves out some of the most significant aspects of the war (context).   The defeat of the Confederacy by Union forces, the surrender at Appomatttox to General Grant, and the subsequent elimination of slavery are just a couple of things that should be included in order to reflect history, and to "document and help explain the historical record". 
  • The statues of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and J.E.B Stuart could be converted into actual monuments by providing additional statues, plaques and/or obelisks that document and commemorate all the events.  If that was done, one could argue that the avenue would become a historical park with monuments to important events and figures of the Civil War.
  • Without also including this context, the statues are not impartial and illustrate a point of view.  And, as you can see from all the graffiti on the statue of Lee (above), it is a point of view that not everyone can agree.
The Jefferson Statue
My cousin, Shannon Lanier, is also a descendent of Thomas Jefferson.  Like me, he is descended from Jefferson's relations with Sally Hemming, an enslaved person at Monticello.



His opinion is that the statue of our grandfather should be removed from the memorial and put in a museum.  There, the entire complex context can be provided, including his role in enslaving people at Monticello.  You can read his opinion piece in Newsweek here.

Like I said, it is complicated.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Comparative Advantage, Tariffs, and Why I Pay My Barber I keep hearing on the news that the U.S. has a massive trade deficit. Politicians insist this is terrible for our economy. They say we need huge tariffs on imported goods, that we must manufacture everything here at home, and stop buying so much from other countries. But recently, I noticed something interesting in my own life that seems directly related: I have a massive trade deficit with my barber—and things are working out pretty well for both of us. Every few weeks, I pay my barber to cut my hair. Yet she never buys anything from me—not engineering expertise, not a mandolin lesson—nothing at all. If the government tracked my haircuts the way it measures international trade, they’d say I’m getting ripped off, and my barber is getting rich. So why don't I "protect" myself and eliminate this unfair deficit? I suppose I could start cutting my own hair. But trust me—you don't want to see the results. I’d ...
Read more

Will Tariffs Jack Up Your Bills and Push the World to the Brink?

Image
Your next Walmart run might hit hard. The U.S. has imposed 145% tariffs on Chinese goods, with China retaliating at 125%, poised to drive up costs for clothes, appliances, and more. A sudden reprieve on April 12, 2025, exempted electronics—$127 billion worth, nearly a third of Chinese imports—keeping phones and PCs affordable for now. But with most goods under heavy tariffs, and President Trump pushing hard while Xi Jinping eyes Taiwan, fears mount that this trade war could spiral. Soaring prices could squeeze American wallets dry, or worse, spark a Taiwan conflict. The bond market, now jittery at a 4.5% yield, hints at what’s coming. Could Trump’s bold moves bankrupt consumers and ignite chaos, or does he have leverage that would mean there is a smarter deal that lies ahead? What’s driving this, and what’s next for your wallet and the world? And how much leverage does Mr. Trump really have over China? How Trade Fuels Debt—and Your Costs World trade is a giant web, and the U.S. sits ...
Read more

America’s Ideological Dumpster Fire

Image
What do you think of when you see this picture?  The image serves almost as a political Rorschach test.  To one observer, the flames perhaps represents Mr. Trump setting a badly needed fire to the previous (Biden) administration and its governing approach, who were (in their view) chaotic, reckless people driven by a 'woke' ideology rather than evidence-based logic. To another, the same image  might symbolize the current government of Donald Trump and his administration—a flaming disaster characterized (in their view) by chaotic, reckless people and driven more by impulsive ideology than evidence-based logic.  These starkly different interpretations highlight a critical reality: ideology eclipses an analytical approach for determining policy in today's polarized political environment. In fact, ideology often overshadows evidence-based governance, reasoned analysis, and even our shared sense of reality. At first glance, the Trump administration’s actions since J...
Read more