Washington, DC – On Monday night, breaking news out of Washington, DC reported that “protestors” were attempting to tear down the statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square. The statue was the first bronze statue in the United States and was erected in 1853. As the site states, the statue was made in part by a slave.
NEW: Protesters in D.C's Lafayette Square try to topple Andrew Jackson statue https://t.co/34L9HZrCyw
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) June 23, 2020
That person was Philip Reid. It’s not known what he did for the Jackson statue, but he is well known to have had significant contributions to the Statue of Freedom, which sits atop the Capitol building. Various news outlets were quick to call this out after the attempts to remove the Jackson statue.
They’ve attempted to use this as the justification to tear down the Jackson statue, but is that the case? We know that slavery is a horrible part of our history, but it is part of our history. Removing the statues and the memory of the past does not take away the history.
I would say this argument to remove the statue may be legitimate, but I think it’s the media merely looking for a way to justify the destruction. If this was the case, why were they destroying memorials to those who fought for the things they claim? Remember, they defaced the monument to the all-volunteer black regiment of the Union Army.
They also would have difficulty in arguing that it was due to Andrew Jackson as a reason to tear it down. Jackson founded the Democrat party and was one who argued against corruption while in office. Jackson had slaves at the time of his death, but his practice was no different than many other Presidents or men of the area at the time.
Jackson was an orphan. He adopted three children, including 2 Native American infants that he found while at war. Jackson was not a perfect man, but he was not the most controversial in our American history either.
These “protestors” simply do not understand what they are destroying. There is no justification for the destruction that is taking place across our country. They are only destroying monuments, and they are not changing the history.
George Santayana is well known for an often misquoted statement. The accurate statement from his writings is, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” These monuments are markers of our past. Many times, this is the only remembrance people have of the past.
Removing these markers will doom us to forget where we came from. We need to remember what happened in our past to make sure we do not make the same mistakes again. If these left-wing radicals have their way, we will have no memory of these things.
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