Petition to remove Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial

catspjamas

First Sergeant
Joined
May 31, 2006
Location
Roan Mountain, TN
Found this on Facebook, and at first I thought it wasn't a serious petition, but Channel 11 in Atlanta had it on their 7:00 news:

http://www.11alive.com/news/article/290674/40/Petition-wants-Stone-Mt-Confederate-carving-removed

Of course, the petition only has 34 signatures so far, but he's already got one senator supporting him, and thinking it's a good idea.

Here's how I feel about it:

ImpliedFacepalm.jpg
 
State senator. Big difference.

I'm sure Mr. Forde is serious about his petition, but I wouldn't spend much time worrying about it. Petitions are an important part of our democracy, but I'm pretty sure this doesn't even have legal standing under Georgia law.
 
State senator. Big difference.

I'm sure Mr. Forde is serious about his petition, but I wouldn't spend much time worrying about it. Petitions are an important part of our democracy, but I'm pretty sure this doesn't even have legal standing under Georgia law.

I didn't say he was a US Senator, you read something that wasn't there.

When Georgia changed the State Flag, a law was written, voted on, and approved that the Stone Mountain Memorial would not be removed, defaced, covered, etc., and would remain permanently. The senator that was interviewed, on Channel 11, voted for this law, which he is now saying is a bad law and he only voted for it to get the flag changed.

And I'm not worried about it, it's too stupid to be taken seriously.
 
Shame Mr. Coleman didn't have equal time during the debate that followed the piece. (Interesting that he had a stack of notes in front of him and the Senator had nothing in the way of prepared material). The Senator claims a degree in history (at the very end)... too bad he didn't seem to have learn anything (i.e. there were multiple contributing causes of the War, Davis-Jackson-Lee were more than just what modern citizens have had drilled into them). The real problem isn't the carving, but the way the citizens of Georgia are taught their own Southern history. Can you imagine if we looked really closely at some of the darker policies and actions of the four men carved into the mountain in South Dakota ... should we blow that one up too?
 
I hope it fizzles, but as with the flag, Confederate memorials, parks, etc. some of these people and groups just don't give up. Unfortunately our society has trained people to expect that they can have anything they want if they whine for it long enough; no one's willing to tell them just quit, leave it alone. For some people it's literally inconceivable that a situation can be resolved other than by them getting their way.
 
I hope it fizzles, but as with the flag, Confederate memorials, parks, etc. some of these people and groups just don't give up. Unfortunately our society has trained people to expect that they can have anything they want if they whine for it long enough; no one's willing to tell them just quit, leave it alone. For some people it's literally inconceivable that a situation can be resolved other than by them getting their way.

I read something that applies to this.


Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.


For some reason I do not see the Confederate exception to this. As long as you have people and freedom, there will be conflict.
 
The Bamiyan Buddhas are an interesting comparison. There was (rightly) worldwide outrage at the Taliban's destruction of the statues. The Taliban, acting as the functioning government at the time, decided the statues weren't in keeping with the values and beliefs of the people...the consensus, however, seems to be the Taliban were wrong in destroying these statues because of their historic value; the fact that the statues were deemed "offensive" by the Taliban was roundly dismissed by world opinion.

How do we reconcile the removal/destruction/renaming of various Confederate memorials due to popular opinion? I readily grant that Buddha doesn't have the same baggage as, say, NBF, but the Taliban considered them to be idols to a pagan deity, which is prohibited in their religious view- it doesn't matter whether Buddha was a good/bad/indifferent figure, the whole concept is offensive and not to be allowed. Their view.

So when a city council seeks to rename parks with a Confederate legacy, or fly the CBF, or otherwise commemorate the CSA, how do we interpret this in light of our collective reaction to the Taliban? Does a government and/or group of citizens have a right to remove that which they deem offensive, despite views to the contrary from outside? Or is there a duty to conserve that which may be found offensive, yet has historical significance?
 
"It's almost like a black eye or an embarrassing smudge on our culture"

That line there from the article..ouch.

If we start eliminating "embarrassing" events from our history books, that is gonna cause some "wonderful" generations down the road.

I hope they keep the thing there, add some neon road signs leading up to it, and hold remembrance days every weekend there.
 
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