It is rare for me to agree with Donald. On most things I personally detest the man.
I personally think statues of the past should be left, even if we dislike them and what they stood for. These are of the past, and times, and views, change. Destroying these (whether in Syria, Afghanistan, USA or UK) serves no long-term good. If we destroy everything we do not agree with today, we are making a judgment. Personally, I think every age should have a chance to make up its own mind.
Racism, bigotry and a lack of tolerance is always wrong.
My views, and I respect the right of others to disagree with me.
Hey Roger,
ReplyDeleteI don't want to get into a nasty discussion. I just want to point out that these "statues of the past" are fairly recent. These aren't 19th century statues put up just after the Civil War. They were put up in the 1960's as a political statement during the civil rights struggle. I will leave it to you to imagine what political statement was intended by state and local governments that were, at that time, aggressively upholding their right to discriminate, segregate, and disenfranchise minorities.
Thanks Todd.
ReplyDeleteIn the UK a lot of our churches were vandalised during the Civil War in the 1600s. I am also aware of centuries old treasures being ruined in Syria and Afghanistan. My PERSONAL view is we have no right to vandalise our histories. What we should do is challenge these if they do not represent our views today.
With the hindsight of history we may see these as wrong.