Hey guys! Thanks for continuing to stick with me
This is an essay that I wrote during my sophomore year in high school. It scratches the surface of racial tensions in the United States in 2017 when the incident in Charlottesville, VA, with the white supremacist rally. This is an old essay so I will make sure to create a chapter addressing more recent issues as well as my updated opinions and maturing and growing mindset and awareness of these issues.
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The New York Times article "Tributes to the Confederacy: History, or a Racial Reminder in New Orleans," written by Alan Blinder, highlights the continuous racial tensions that have been rising in the United States. Protests have occurred in multiple places across the South in result of the plans to remove Confederate memorials and place them in museums. According to the article, city officials, "declared the monuments to be nuisances months after nine black churchgoers were killed in a racially motivated massacre in Charleston, S.C." The massacre had been carried out by a gunman who claims to be a white supremacist. This resulted in South Carolina's removal of the Confederate battle flag which had been flying at the State House for over 50 years. Movements such as Black Live Matter have taken rise in modern-day America to fight and protest against white supremacists, such as modern Ku Klux Klan and neo-nazi groups.
Recently, protests in Charlottesville, VA, and New Orleans, LA have caused the police to get involved in reducing the security risks of the people working to take down the monuments. The struggle to remove monuments such as the Jefferson Davis statue has "helped us understand that we can't put our complete trust and faith in elected officials" as stated by Angela Kinlaw, which helped them steer the Take 'Em Down NOLA movement. The Take 'Em Down NOLA movement, according to their website, is a group of people who have pledged to rid New Orleans of all symbols of white supremacy. Although the group had successfully removed one of the monuments, they are still working to remove the statues of two Confederate generals, Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard. Much like why other monuments are built, these monuments were erected to commemorate the people during the civil war, a big part in America's history. Many of the men that have been memorialized come from the civil war and the reconstruction-era, which was the period after the civil war in which the states that had been apart of the Confederacy being brought back into the United States. The civil war, reconstruction-era, and the confederacy play big roles in the history and current issues dealing with the struggle between the white supremacists and black citizens in the United States.
As revealed by the demonstrations and counter-demonstrations that have taken place within the last few months, people have taken sides on whether they are for or against the removal of these monuments. This is important to the American people on a national level because of its direct tie to their history. Those against the removal of the monuments argue that by removing these pieces of history from the streets, they are erasing it completely, and although it may be a dark part in America's history, it is an important part as well. It is important for people to retain their cultural heritage so others can be educated on why they are being memorialized instead of being torn down and possibly forgotten.
On the other side, some people believe that taking down these monuments are "a necessary part of the struggle toward racial and economic justice," as said by the aforementioned Angela Kinlaw. The fight for equality amongst all people of color has been a continuous battle for centuries and still proves to be a problem currently. The monuments are really just a symbol of the real issues that people are really fighting for. It is important for people to recognize the issues plaguing their society whether it may or may not directly affect or impact their life but may become a part of their nation's history.
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Formal
Essay by Leah Lee
What is your opinion on this issue?
If you'd like to insert your own essay/op-ed into this series feel free to DM me and I'll make it happen. All perspectives and point-of-views are welcome.
Your Local Curious Cat,
Leah Lee
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