John Mitchell Jr., crusading African-American editor of the Richmond Plane, predicted the following as the Robert E. Lee monument was dedicated in his city in 1890: “He [Black man] put up the Lee monument, and should the time come, he’ll be there to take it down.” The events of the past few years have proven Mitchell right, but even he could not have anticipated today’s news out of Richmond.
(Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Confederate monuments removed throughout the city may soon find a new home at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia. This is a welcome development on a number of levels.
Confederate monuments in Richmond and elsewhere contributed to the distortion and even erasure of the history of emancipation, slavery, and the service of thousands of Black southerners in the United States army during the Civil War. With the relocation of these monuments to a Black history museum they can now be interpreted to help tell this story.
I couldn’t be more pleased with this news. That said, relocation to museums raises all kinds of challenges for these institutions. There is the question of whether objects that have been the center of protest and violent conflict can be transformed into educational tools. Will the community support such an exhibit given this recent history. Museums and other institutions need to be properly staffed not only to educate the public about the relevant history, but also to use this as an opportunity to promote healing and as an opportunity to address broader challenges.
There has not been enough attention paid to the possibility of relocating these monuments to museums. Many would prefer to see them utilized as part of new art exhibits or retired for good. I understand this sentiment, but I also have maintained from the beginning that each community must make these decisions for itself. There is no one-size fits all solution.
If any city is prepared to take this on it is Richmond. It boasts a rich monument landscape and includes many museums and other institutions that are devoted specifically to telling the history of Civil War, Reconstruction and beyond. It’s a city that has found ways to face this difficult history well before June 2020. Richmond may serve as a model for other cities to follow.
I look forward to seeing how this develops in 2022.
Fascinating. Good luck to the museum in making useful exhibits.
Interestingly, the statue of slave trader Edward Colston, which citizens of Bristol, UK, vandalized and then dumped in a canal during protests of the Floyd murder, is now in a Bristol museum, exhibited with the graffiti added during the protest.
Thanks for reminding me of the relocation of the Colston statue to a museum.
The suggestion that Confederate monuments contributed to the distortion and even erasure of the history of emancipation, slavery, etc., is as ludicrous as saying removing them is destroying history.
Hi Connie. Great to hear from you. It’s been way too long. At this point you should probably just be relieved that these monuments are not being melted down or worse. Happy New Year.
Hi, Kevin. A pendulum never swings in one direction permanently. Sooner or later, it will start moving on a reverse trajectory.
It’s impossible to predict the future, but regardless of the way the pendulum swings, the monuments aren’t coming back. That battle has been waged and lost by their defenders. You can go ahead and explain it in anyway you choose, but it doesn’t change this fact.
Connie,
You managed to be wrong twice in the same sentence. I see nothing has changed for you.
Excellent!! Very proud of Richmond, the capital of my home Commonwealth.