Monuments are constant reminders of events, ideals, commonality, and of notable people. Over time we accumulated many monuments, that have been dedicated to various histories and people. Some of which glorify people with backgrounds in slavery, genocide, and morally unacceptable acts. Which is why some monuments are stirring up a lot of debate on whether or not they should be kept. All over the United States, statues such as Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia are being removed to please protests. This has inspired New Yorkers to protest several statues of our own, causing Mayor De Blasio to step up and assemble a board of directors to oversee removal of statutes. The Board is currently working hard to survey communities to see what type of criteria they should be using to review statutes. I also have a solution to our problem. I feel that no monument should be removed. Instead they should be updated and modernized to teach the youth accurate lessons about the history surrounding the monument.

History has often been skewed by holidays and communities to change the common understanding of monuments and the people they are dedicated to. Although some statues have been made in honor of people whose whole legacy was not taken into account, it is up to the modern people to update them. Every statue is an opportunity to inform members of a community. An example of where history has been skewed is the Columbus statue in Columbus park. Columbus is the famed explorer that “discovered” the Americas. He’s glorified in history books, and they often leave out a very big chunk of Columbus’ legacy. Columbus played a big part in the genocide of Caribbeans and Natives that first settled the Americas. The statue is a constant reminder of the genocide, and offends people of caribbean and native backgrounds. So many citizens want it to be removed. It’s also in discussion that instead of removing the statue, we should add a plaque. A sign that will shine a light on the lives lost due to Columbus’ part in the genocide. Which goes along with my idea of modernizing statues and using them to teach the youth accurate lessons about the history surrounding monuments. Another example of a statue that was dedicated to a figure without their whole legacy being taken into account is the statue of J Marin Sims in Central Park. J Marin Sims was a surgeon that made great strides in the medical world. He was praised for years, but it’s come to light that his breakthroughs were made on the backs of black enslaved women. He performed experiments on these enslaved woman against their will, and without anesthesia. Instead of removing the statue in Central Park I believe that we should also add a plaque to inform people about the injustice. To shift the appreciation from J Marin Sims to the black enslaved women he experimented on.

Economically most monuments, big or small, actually bring a lot of economical wealth to an area. For example, the statue of liberty brings a lot of jobs to people operating ferries, and the small tourist shops near the docks. Monuments bring in a lot of tourists who in turn bring economic growth to an area. It doesn’t come at the same magnitude as stadiums like Barclays or the Staples Center, but it’s a considerable amount. Our most recent 9/11 memorial brings a lot of business to the area surrounding it. So if we remove statues, we not only pay to remove them, but take a bit of a hit community wise.

So who will pay for it? No private business or organization will have the resources to pay for such a massive project. There are instances where communities have crowd funded the creation of statues. I believe that these communities should be responsible for updating the statues that they created. However, on the other hand the remaining statues should be updated with taxpayer money. Updating these statues and giving them an educational aspect will pay off in the long run and create a more conscious community. So just like we use taxpayer money for education, we should invest in these statues all the same.

Statues should never be removed. They, like history, is created to be learned from. Statues should be constant reminders of the past, if we remove them we deny that parts of history ever happened. I do agree that they must be updated to properly inform the public about neglected histories.

Sources:

1. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/nyregion/ordering-review-of-statues-puts-de-blasio-in-tricky-spot.html
2. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monument
3. http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/15/us/confederate-memorial-removal-us-trnd/index.html
4. http://nypost.com/2017/08/28/columbus-statue-may-get-an-explanation-plaque/
5. http://nypost.com/2017/08/23/de-blasio-says-removing-columbus-statue-is-on-the-table/
6. https://ny.curbed.com/2017/8/22/16183626/j-marion-sims-central-park-statue-removal-nyc