He Was Cool Back Then: The Argument Against Statues and Named Buildings

Brian Badgero
Aug 25, 2017 · 6 min read

As with all defining moments, there are many who are against them on the grounds of the “slippery slope”. Once one action, law, or precedent of some kind is made, more will follow. Sometimes this is good, like the progressive rights of LGBTQ communities throughout the (mostly) Western world. Once the ball got rolling, in some place it got rolling quite quickly. Others see the slippery slope as a disaster waiting to happen. “If we allow A then B will be next. Will C be after that?”.

I’m a liberal-minded individual, flirting with socialism on occasion. That being said, I appreciate the dialogue between educated left and right wing individuals. Push back is healthy, as it leads to debate, research, and public discussions. Progress for the sake of progress isn’t always the best thing, and many sci-fi shows and books have demonstrated that (if you haven’t, read Margaret Atwood’s “Oryx and Crake” or “The Handmaid’s Tale” for stories of unchecked progression within science and religion, do it).

In the end, I believe that progess, positivity, innovation, and humanity will prevail against doubters. They will need discussion and sometimes limits. These things may not move as fast as we would like, but if the battle is righteous enough, it will be worth the fight.

There are many progressive or traditionalist movements out there that are being challenged by their opposites. Countless, even, yet some are more worthy for the public eye (LGBTQ, immigrants, etc) than others that have faded into the background (Syrian Civil War, countless examples of developing world famine and disease, detained refugees in Nauru trying to get to Australia, etc).

The fight that people are facing off against today in North America is the rise of White Supremacy and the symbols that embolden them. Supremacist rallies have blossomed throughout the US and Canada (we Canadians aren’t all nice nor so willing to say “sorry”) more openly since the rise of Trump and they have been confronted by more counter-protests from various groups and communities that condemn hate speech. The Charlottesville protest and attack, where White Supremacists clashed with Antifa (anti-fascist) protesters, led to one person getting killed and nineteen others injured.

All this, one could argue, over the issue of a statue and a park.

Charlottesville wanted to remove the statue of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general who wanted to preserve slavery, and rename the park. The original rally was to preserve the statue and the park name, but later evolved into something more disturbing, as seen from the ne0-Nazi-like rallies with their embarrassing tiki torches (tres drole) and supported by gun-rights militias. Violence with Antifa and anti-racist protesters followed.

The negative press of the matter has led to more American institutions to remove statues of (mostly) Confederate leader or other controversial individuals. I support this, to a degree, for good measure. These statues were mostly placed during the Civil War romanticism of the 1880s-early 20th century well after the war, as well as during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s/60s. These statues were set up to reaffirm the status and power of the White former slave owning community. These protesters want to preserve their history: White, racist, oppressive history.

Now, these Confederate statues mean something. They represent a moment in time where a war was fought over state rights and slavery. Unfortunately, this history in the places with these statues has been written, maybe not so much the victors but by the dominant group of people: affluent White men. There is a reason why there are so few Black statues in these areas: affluent White men wouldn’t allow it. So the statues remained and these White Supremacists are crying foul when one of their few symbols of power and authority is being crushed by the so-called “political correctness” crowd.

It’s interesting that this snowball has gained momentum. In Canada, the Ontario teachers union for elementary teachers have voted to denounce schools named after our first Prime Minister and Father of Confederation John A. MacDonald. He’s on our $10 bill and we’re supposed to love him for it. He was ranked 8th on the Greatest Canadians debate.

MacDonald was a cool guy from what I’ve read in history books. He convinced the representatives from multiple British North American (pre-Canadian) colonies to join together as a united country to promote both independence from Britain but also to survive against American “manifest destiny”.

Unfortunately, for many people that’s the only thing he’s remembered for. For others, especially in the Indigenous/First Nations communities, he’s known for other things. He also promoted the control of First Nations through the destruction of bison, which led to famine and the need for First Nations in today’s prairie provinces and northern Ontario to sign away the land they lived on through treaties. This led to the Indian Act, which legally allowed the Federal Government to rule over all aspects of First Nations lives and force communities onto reserves. Then he openly promoted assimilation through the infamous Residential Schools, that led to the forced removal of hundreds of thousands of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit children from their homes in order to provide a European-based education so that the government could “kill the Indian” inside them.

By the way, MacDonald was a known drunk, was caught in a nasty bribery scandal, and helped instigate a conflict with the Metis in order to execute their influential leader Louis Riel and get the money to finish his trans-continental railway. Amongst other things.

Like I said, he’s on our $10 bill but his name is also on building, roads, and schools. I’m sure there’s a statue or two of him as well. History has looked well upon him but as part of the “woke” generation, history is revealing his, along with other predominantly White male politicians and leaders, dark and notorious sides.

The position made by the teachers union is not new. It’s one of the reasons why many people, primarily in Indigenous communities, oppose 2017’s 150 year celebration of Canadian Confederation. They (and I agree) believe that we shouldn’t celebrate 150 years of White colonialism, which include the legal oppression against Indigenous people, the exclusion of Chinese immigrants, the internment of Japanese and Ukrainian Canadians, and the dragged feet of political recognition of past wrongs.

Legitimate reasons, if you ask me.

People will argue, “Hey, look at the positive moments this person represents”, to which I would argue, “Yeah, I recognize the moment, not the person who had other motives and flaws”. Confederation may have been a mostly good thing, but some of the people behind it, like MacDonald, were not. These Confederate generals may have been fighting for the White (slave owner) people of the south, but the war still focused on slavery. We don’t need these people. We don’t need anyone. We’re all flawed and these flaws will come out eventually.

We don’t need places named after people nor statues to symbolize their contribution to a moment in time. I’ve done some cool things too, but I wouldn’t want to be remembered for that and hide any dark sides. I stole pokemon cards when I was in grade 4 and probably made some radical left wing comments in university. A singular action today will not make up or overpower my past, so it shouldn’t apply to these historical figures.

History is written by the victorious, and although these Confederates lost the war, White people on both sides still won and Black people still lost. The Black community doesn’t need reminders of that and we don’t need glossed history from what these statues and places are trying to portray.

Put these statues in a museum somewhere, all of them. Have their plaques remain but add a new one for context. Unbiased, researched, academically supported history. Show the good and the bad together. We can’t afford to name things after people who are flawed. Rename things that leave a sour taste in people’s mouths.

In the future, will we be trying to memorialize someone who has a shady Facebook history or archived tweets that show another side to their lives? Doubtful. History requires context, respect, healing, and learning. Leaving these memorials preserve the status quo and destroying them only hides a part of history.

If we aren’t learning from the past we risk repeating it in the future. Find the balance. Preserve history but promote peace and healing.

We will all be victorious if we are all on equal ground.

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