Brandon Casimir
English 1101
Monuments are a symbol of a remarkable point in history and should be glorified due to the positive impacts they withheld. Monuments should remain an explicit way of commemorating a specific person or event. There are many monuments all over the world that reveals a great significance, however some remain a symbolism of hate and can target a specific ethnic group, race, and or sexual preferences. Monuments with such characteristics should be removed.
One way a monument is used is by honoring fallen soldiers that have fought in passed wars. While venturing the Cadman Plaza area of Downtown Brooklyn I came across a park named Korean War Veterans Plaza. An alluring granite monument to fallen Brooklyn soldiers who fought in the war. The Korean war was North Korea’s desperate attempt to take over South Korea and have just one Korea. In efforts to stop this The United States sent troops from all over to help and fight. The monument was created to pay tribute to the soldiers that lost their lives. Tourists who view this monument can pay homage to the soldiers and never forget the people who once served the country so that the people of the future can live better lives. “In 1987, the Korean War Veterans Memorial Committee was formed to raise money to build a monument to commemorate the soldiers of the “forgotten war.” Honoring the people that fought for us in the past should be a prime example of what criterion should be used for evaluating monuments.
Monuments were also used to honor specific people that led a great change to the world. One of these monuments would consist of Robert F. Kennedy. After finding the Korean War Veterans Plaza, I did more surveying of the area and came across a statue of Robert F. Kennedy. Brother of the 35th president, Kennedy served as U.S Attorney General. Soon after his brother’s assassination he launched a successful campaign for the United States Senate in 1964. Kennedy also spoke out against the war in Vietnam. “America in the mid-1960’s was in the thick of the Vietnam War abroad, and grappling with civil rights at home. Robert Kennedy as U.S. Attorney General in the early 1960’s, had become directly engaged in the civil rights struggle…” This is just one of Kennedy heroic deeds to bettering the U.S. It also includes, “Following the assassination of his brother in 1963, and by 1965 as a U.S. Senator, RFK continued his political metamorphosis, gradually becoming a more vocal and aggressive champion for minority rights for African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and immigrant groups.” If a monument is created for a commemoration for an event or a person who positively impacted the world t should stay relevant.
Although monuments are created to honor the good that has been done from a certain event or specific person, there are monuments that hold negative incentives and should be removed. An instance in where a monument should be removed is if that monument glorifies hate or prejudice towards another race or ethnicity. An example of this type of monument would be the statue of Benjamin Tillman located in South Carolina. Although the plaque on the statue state” life of service and achievement” his beliefs on race were not apparent. ” Tillman moved on to the U.S. Senate in 1895, apologetically defending until his death in 1918 his post-Reconstruction tactics to restore white rule in the then-majority-black state by killing any black who tried to vote.” This prove that Tillman was a white supremacist that did not want to see African American citizens prospers. This statue is a symbol of racism and hate towards African-Americans and should not stand any longer. That was only one example as where Tillman committed many other heinous acts to instill fear into African Americans. Another example is shown in the line. “The purpose of our visit was to strike terror,” he said in the Senate in 1900 about the so-called Hamburg Massacre of 1876, where his militia killed black Republicans. “And the next morning when the Negroes who had fled to the swamp returned to the town the ghastly sight which met their gaze of seven dead Negroes lying stark and stiff certainly had its effect.” A person that committed such acts should not have a monument build in his favor therefore it should be removed.
In conclusion, there are some criteria that should be considered before a monument should be upheld. Although we live in a time where monuments mainly get attention from tourists and newcomers they should still be recognized as a symbol of honor and commemoration to a specific event or person in time. Monuments should stay relevant for the reasons of hopefully soon all the monuments that promotes the negative aspects of the dark past of the United States will be removed and forgotten.
Works Cited:
Larimer, Sarah. “Why a Vitriolic Jim Crow Advocate Is Still Memorialized on S.C. Statehouse Grounds.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 9 July 2015, www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/07/09/should-this-controversial-s-c-governors-statue-be-included-in-the-debate-over-confederate-symbols-on-statehouse-grounds/?utm_term=.92cf9c52c406%2C%2Bit%2Bstates%2C.
Dicks, J.D. J. “John F. Kennedy Statue.” The Pop History Dig, Pop History, Aug. 2016, www.pophistorydig.com/topics/tag/robert-f-kennedy-history/.
Antiquities, Art N. “The Battery.” The Battery Monuments – New York Korean War Veterans Memorial : NYC Parks, NYC Parks, 2015, www.nycgovparks.org/parks/battery-park/monuments/1930
