Part One:

In the search of monuments, my group encountered many monuments we found very interesting to utilize for our project. Personally, I will write about the Korean War Veteran Plaza. The monument was accompanied by the following, ” In the memory of those Brooklyn who made the supreme sacrifice during the Korean War June 26, 1950 to July 27, 1953 . They will remain in our hearts and minds forever.” This monument is dedicated to fallen soldiers who resisted in Brooklyn before heading to the Korean War. Each solider has their first and last name as well as their position. This mural was located at the beginning of one the local parks around City Tech. The location of the mural allows those who walk by to acknowledge the names of the soldiers and the objective of the mural. I believe this monument serves a great purpose in the community because it reminds us that we should never take freedom for granted. Many have sacrificed everything including their lives for the sole purpose of allowing freedom for many generations. We may never be able to personally thank a solider for their courage and bravery but if we take a moment to acknowledge their names I believe we are showing them respect and gratitude. Although, I haven’t created a criteria for what monuments should remain I believe this monument is doing no harm to anyone therefore, it should remain where it is. This monument rather than creating harm it causes inspiration. The monument can inspire young men and women to serve their country.

Part Two:

Article1:

This article began explaining Mayor Bill de Blasio struggle for spotlight. Bill de Blasio has been criticized for not being or addressing serious incidents in New York. Due to recent incident Bill de Blasio is not in another tight situation this time about the removal of confederate statues. This is a tight situation for the mayor due to his support for Christopher Columbus. The article mentions his support goes as far to participating in the Columbus Day Parade. However, August 12 led to a turn events after white supremacists and other protesters protested the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, the confederate general. This protest became deadly as one protestor was murdered causing riots across the country. Bill de Blasio condemned the violence and declaring a 90 day review of all symbols of hate on city property. The article continue to mention that Bill de Blasio will have a commission created to listen to ideas and concerns from flow New Yorkers. This commission will create a criteria although, the entire criteria is not finished some recommendations include it additional plaques to provide background info to inform the public about the individual. David Eisenbach made a very interesting point to his support of the statue of Christopher Columbus. Contrary to the belief of many who refer Columbus as a mass murderer, Eisenbach views Columbus as a legendary explorer. He is aware of the horrific things Columbus did which he believes makes his statue better. His bad and good accomplishments according to Eisenbach is a “beautiful thing”.

Article 2:

The US Official news published an article covering the City of Chandlers nominations for individuals or groups to be honored at the celebration Plaza. The celebration Plaza is known to be a location to honor service organization. Although, many can be nominated there is a review process each nominee will go through. The article includes very specific requirements as part of their criteria. These individuals must have some relevance to the area where they will be displayed. The elected nominees must be endorsed by the community. The individual or group have caused a ,meaningful impact either short or long term to the community. The criteria is specific to what they mean by meaningful impact. For example, the individual or group has improved the quality of life and work to the community.

Part Three:

Monuments have been put up for many years and its purpose is to explicitly commemorate a person or event. Many figures in history have had monuments dedicated to them however, many controversial figures such as Christopher Columbus and Robert E. Lee have sparked protests. Although these men were known for their leadership they were also known to represent oppression and hate to minorities. Many Americans believe figures who represent hate and murder should not be given a monument. Nevertheless, we cannot take down a monument simply because we hate it there needs to be a non biases criteria that has a more concrete justification to remove it. The objective of this criteria is maintain stability and safety in the community if a monument fails to do so it must be taken down and moved to a local museum.
A monument cannot be taken down because we don’t like it there has to solid justification for its removal. The criteria I have created is meant to be non biases, fair, and promote safety. My the first part of my criteria involves investigating “who” this individual is. A monument cannot just go up because he was a nice guy. This monument has to have relevance to the community and its local history. Research of the foundation of this persons empowerment or historical significance is important in order to promote safety. Regardless, if the person has negative or positive background this investigation would allow us to see how the community may react and their reaction will allow to know if this monument would negatively affect safety.
The second part of my criteria refers to the safety and stability of the community because there are many lives involved. In a neighborhood, there should be no need for those who pay rent and live there have an additional burden. Controversial monuments such as the confederate statue of Robert E. Lee has spiked a lot of violence and even death. The people of Charlottesville had to have their daily routines interrupted because of police patrol and media coverage. This affects the traveling to work, school and simple daily activities therefore, this monument should not be put up. An additional, part of this criteria involves the proper maintenance of these monuments. If the statue is making the neighborhood look bad it should be removed.
The last part of my criteria helps prevent biases opinions. Everyone is entitled to look up to any individual they wish to. We cannot change people’s beliefs and opinions which is why we have so much conflict. For example, there are white supremacists in America and they look up to those who the confederate states. On the other hand, there are people that are liberals and believe these monuments of confederate leaders glorify hate and racism. To create a peace of opinions, monuments that are controversial will have a plaque that states the good as well as the bad they did. This is what makes this criteria very efficient because this criteria takes in consideration everyone’s opinion. We acknowledge the good and bad these individuals did which helps take away some of that glory they would have if the bad wasn’t stated.
During our presentations, a lot of my classmates had interesting points in their criteria. Some interesting points included how much was the cost to maintain a monument because the weather affected it.I think this is a good point because it would be a burden to continuously have to repair a monument. After evaluating the statues and one fails to meet then requirements it should be taken to a local museum. The statue would be better there because a museum acknowledges history and its place we cant condemn displays. These displays represent our history and deserve to be held there so future generations can learn from them.
In conclusion, this criteria will allow a fair display of monuments in New York. This criteria will allow there to be equal representation of opinions. I believe this is important because it will allow many New Yorkers to be tolerant of the many options that exist. If another criteria was used there will be biases. Old and modern history have taught us that when this type of criteria is utilized violence arises. We don’t need more violence we need peace but we don’t want to ignore humanities problems such as racism. This criteria covers what’s the most important thing the safety in a community while we spread awareness and tolerance. I believe if Bill de Blasio uses my criteria the people of the state of New York and himself will benefit tremendously.

Part Four:

Work Cited

Neuman, William. “Ordering Review of Statues Puts De Blasio in Tricky Spo.”
New York Times. N.p., 30 Aug. 17. Web.

 

Silva, Daniella. “Christopher Columbus Statue in New York City Could Be Considered for Removal.”
NBC News. N.p., 23 Aug. 2017. Web.

 

“City of Chandler Accepting Nominations for Individuals or Groups to Be Honored at Celebration Plaza.”
Lexis Nexis. Plus Media Solutions US Official News, 11 May 2017. Web. <http://www-lexisnexis-com.citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/?verb=sf&sfi=AC00NBGenSrch>.