Tag Archives: Project 2

The Truth Behind These Monuments.

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A monument is a statue, building, or structure dedicated to someone important in history. It can also symbolize someone’s success and historical background. However, over the years, monuments have become less relevant to the public, but it struck societies interest when New Yorker’s wanted the statue of Christopher Columbus removed. Therefore, after researching, I have come to conclude that certain monuments should be removed. Should we as the people, glorify those whom oppressed and hated a group of selected individuals based on race, or ethnicity?
Currently, all monuments across state/city wide are being reviewed.
Some monuments are reminders of the untold truth of what happened in history. Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a 90-day review on public monuments; this may be good for the society because it gives us a chance to reevaluate the good and bad side of the statues history. Therefore, before removing any monuments, or historical statues, a review must be conducted by the Commission.
Although, Mayor Bill de Blasio wants a 90-day review of all the New York City monuments, there are also people that believe this review will cause division amongst the people of New York City. For example, Nicole Malliotakis stated “She believes the mayor issued a press release on a 90-day review to help himself politically, yet he really didn’t think it through; now he has created massive division between the people of the city.” she wanted him to release the monuments before the election. Thus, Nicole feels as mayor he should have issued a review before the election, but by doing so now he potentially put all monuments at risk or danger of being removed or knocked down.
In this case, using my criteria for the 90-day review issued by Mayor Bill de Blasio, he and the commission would be able to identify which monument within all boroughs of the city are displaying violent, or hate crime towards people of all ethnicity groups. One of my criteria from my list is, what was the foundation that lead to that person’s historical empowerment? This is one of the questions that should be asked when conducting the review. now was this historical figure empowered because of slavery, bad conduct, or good-hearted actions and good deeds to our nation. A full background check should be done when doing these kinds of reviews. All truth about this monument should be displayed to the commission. Historical public figures should be held responsible for any wrong doings in the past because some of us use them as inspiration, and ideals; therefore, if I was the government I wouldn’t miss lead our good people in thinking otherwise.
Another criteria is, are tax payers money going into the maintenance of the monuments? During the past month it was confirmed that tax dollars were used to maintain the vandalized monuments. One article stated that $5,000 was used to cover up monuments and install no trespassing signs. This is illegal because the legislation states, “no federal funds may be used for the creation, maintenance, or display, as applicable, of any Confederate symbol on federal property.” However, all the monuments will have to be removed out of every state if the land is not private. This mean that the maintenance of these monuments are illegal and tax payers should not be paying to upheld monuments of people that oppressed any minority.
This leads to the following question does the monuments lead to any economic benefits of the environment? Yes, monuments help the environment economically and help establish it as a commercial area. It creates jobs, but most importantly tourism. With tourism it creates lodging, restaurants, and transport which helps flourish an area. For example, in for years a location can make up to 7.1 billion dollars with just visitors.
Even though, a monument can economically benefit a location, it still should not be worshiped. A monument of a person that invaded and killed other people is wrong. Why should someone be in support of a monument of a person that helped build the foundation of slavery. Why would anyone want to know that their taxes are being used to maintain a monument when there are more important things money to be used for? Why waste it to maintain a monument? Therefore, I believe that Bill Di Blasio should use my criteria to look into the removal of the monuments and see if he to can relate to New Yorkers.

 

Cesario , Anthony. “Charlottesville Officials Forced To Waste Taxpayer Money As Vandals Won’t Give Up.” Charlottesville Officials Forced To Waste Taxpayer Money As Vandals Won’t Give Up, Conservative Daily Post, 22 Sept. 2017, conservativedailypost.com/charlottesville-officials-forced-waste-taxpayer-money-vandals-wont-give/.

Neuman, William. “Ordering Review of Statues Puts De Blasio in Tricky Spot.” Ordering Review of Statues Puts De Blasio in Tricky Spot, The New York Times, 30 Aug. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/nyregion/ordering-review-of-statues-puts-de-blasio-in-tricky-spot.html.

Repanshek , Kurt. “National Parks Traveler.” Is There Economic Value to National Monument in Your Backyard?, Nationalparkstraveler.org, 17 Mar. 2010, www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2010/03/there-economic-value-national-monument-your-backyard5531.

Criteria for Future Monuments

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As of recent events, an interesting topic of discussion has been gaining popularity among many people throughout the United States. That topic is the relevance and need for keeping confederate statues up or removing them entirely. As a result, in order to have these issues not arise again there should be come rules when thinking about erecting statues or monuments, there are many things that one should consider before doing so. In today’s society many things are deemed “offensive” and in an effort to please everyone some things that may be considered are things such as the history behind the person or event, the impact it may have on the area it is implemented in and location where it is situated along with the cost of upkeep for the given monument.

One piece of evidence to support this claim would be about the statue of Christopher Columbus we have right here in New York City. To some people, this statue is a symbol of exploration, discovery and Italian pride. While to a vast majority of people, it is a constant reminder of the genocide, rape, pillage and straight destruction of a whole group of people. Having this statue up is a constant reminder to these people about their history and what was done to their people and their ancestors. Therefore things such as this may be a reason for not putting up more statues in the future. There are many other people who made great advances for their nation, yet their actions caused a genocide of people for reasons such as their race or religion, yet these people are not given statues.

Something that also has to be considered is the location of the monument. Placing a monument in a high density area is not a good idea as it can disrupt the flow of both regular traffic and foot traffic. Having statues in some areas of New York City causes people who are visiting to flock to these destinations to take pictures and to be able to claim that they have visited that location, but it then causes a large disruption for people who actually live or work in the area because they now have to try to get around all the tourists or flat out just avoid that area in general. It then becomes worse when the statue is put in the center of an intersection which causes it to become a roundabout. This slows down not only the people who are walking but then also the drivers which can lead to large scale traffic jams.

Lastly something that should also be spoken about if indeed the city wants to put up a statue that may be considered controversial or offensive, is the cost of upkeep for that monument, If a monument is constantly defaced or destroyed it may end up costing the taxpayers more money than the actual monument is worth. If someone does not like the message a monument is sending, they may deface it with a whole array of things from spray paint to removing parts of the monument or even the entire thing itself if they’re really up for a challenge. If the monument has to be regularly cleaned or fixed, it may not be a good idea to even keep the monument up at all because it would just be a waste of money.

There are many things that can be considered monument, many of which will hold some kind of negative background as none of human history is without negative. There are always going to be some kind of negative background for every single person or building that could be otherwise considered an excellent candidate for remembrance. If there has to be monuments it should only be things that are naturally made by nature as it is a testament to what was, is and always will be here before and after humans have ever been on this planet and will still be here long after the human species is no longer around.

Project 2 Part IV

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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. Accoriding to the site, https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/battery-park/monuments/1930 “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.”

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. According to the cite, http://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/tag/robert-f-kennedy-monument/, it states ” America in the mid-1960s 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 1960s, had become directly engaged in the civil rights struggle…” This is just one of Kennedy heroic deeds to bettering the U.S. It also inludes, “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.”  As long as 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. According to the site ,  https://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, it states, ” Tillman moved on to the U.S. Senate in 1895, unapologetically 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 taken into account 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. Hopefully in the near future all the monuments that promotes the negative aspects of the dark past of the United States will be removed and forgotten.

 

Unity not Division

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Derick Morales

 

 

          In human history there has been many controversies about different topic’s   like , religion,  evolution, sports  and many more.  The most recent controversy in the present time are  about the placements of monuments.  Merriam Webster defines monument as “monument  stone or a building erected in remembrance of a person or event” . For example , The Statue Of Liberty ,  The Freedom tower,Prison Ship Martyrs Monument , and other monuments . However, not all  monuments bring good remembrance , they also can bring negative reminders as well. In this present day , there are many controversies about whether if some monuments should remain in place or be removed because of many historical injustices that occurred in the past. I believe that monuments that represents division to our country instead of unity , should be taken down because it affects,  us as a country.

       There are many monuments that bring positive patriotic feelings towards us and that unify us as well. A perfect example would be The Statue Of Liberty.  This monument was constructed in 1876 by Frenchman Edouard de Laboulaye , to show that the United States Of America  were allies with it France and became a universal monument for freedom.  This monument brought more people to come to America for a better life . According to the site, edsitement.neh.gov ” “It stirs the desire for freedom in people all over the world. It represents the United States itself”.   Meaning that, many people from all over the world came to this country, looking for freedom and to be part of this amazing country.  Despite the conflicts we are  having  as a country as of now, we can always stand tall together and be proud of this monument because of its symbolic message .  

         Although, there are many monuments that symbolize in a positive  and unifying aspect. There are also many monument that bring negative messages ,  reminding of  people hatred and representing division towards one another.  This would effected us because we would be unstable as a country and wouldn’t  be able to move forward. For example,  the chaotic rally in Charlottesville , VA. There was a  white supremacist  march in the University Of Virginia . Their  purpose for marching  was to keep the monument of Robert .E. Lee because it represented their culture. The next day, the counter-protester came to the rally to go against their  beliefs and took down the monument of  Robert . E. Lee. Then the rally escalated into a deadly situation, killing one person. However, Robert .E. Lee was a general for the confederate army during the 1800’s and was known as a legendary commander. Also, he was  praised for his accomplishments and this is reason why there are many monument of him in the south. This resulted of the removal of Robert.E.Lee  monument  and surprisingly the rally slowly died out.  This event showed the hidden hatred of a certain group and the reality of division in this country.

         There are  some monuments that have contributed and unified us as country despite of there action that they did during the past. For example, George Washington . George Washington was the first commander in chief during the Revolutionary war(National War Hero) , was the first president of The United States , and also participated in the Constitution.  Despite all of the accomplishments that he did , he still had slaves working for him.  40% of Fairfax county were slaves, and some were mistreated.  It might seem controversial that Washington could’ve been a pro for slavery  or not, but George Washington played a huge role in America’s history and united us when America was going through a revolution. The George Washington statue wouldn’t be removed because he was a big part of the American history and made us stronger as a country.  

         In conclusion, there are some  monuments that reminds us of the past with hatred for others and bringing back old ideology . The present America contributed the growth of America . This   affects us as  country because if us, as Americans stay divided , we’re never going to move forward as a country unless we take action. We shouldn’t be stuck with old teachings, but learn from the mistakes that we have made during the past and grow from them. However, we shouldn’t have monument that breaks us apart as a country . We should have monuments that represent people that made what America is today and that unify us . Despite that, some of the people  on those monuments did horrible thing , but in a sense that they  contributed for the growth of America. In present time  we still have racism going on, but hopefully in the  near future , we can  remove every single  negative monument that divides us as country.  Also, we can come to an understanding and become one as a country.

 

 

SOURCE PAGES 

Heim, Joe.”Recounting a day of rage, hate, violence and death”. The Washington Post.14, August, 2017.

“The Statue of Liberty: The Meaning and Use of a National Symbol”. EDSITEment. 27,September, 2010.

Cox,  L. Karen. “Why Confederate Monuments Must Fall” . New York Times.  15, August ,2017.