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Originally Posted by EonBlue
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It's a pretty good piece. Did you read it? In case you didn't, this part sums it up nicely:
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This is not to say that I am against independent art and artists representing historical figures in ways that honor, embrace, challenge, and contextualize our collective past. Nor am I down on museums, where people can go and investigate, explore, and research history in depth. What I am suspicious of are monuments produced by the state, which tend to flatten out nuances and turn flawed individuals into tools of propaganda that bolster a kind of religious patriotism. This stuff can be incredibly dangerous for democracy, especially when the same ascendant movement that deifies one set of (white) leaders sees people of color as sub-human.
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And to be clear, I'm actually against statues being taken down.
If a statue is erected of some person hailed as some kind of hero today, but is later discovered to be a scum bag, leaving it in place can be a reminder of the bad things he did.
Don't remove the statue, just update the plaque. "When this statue was put in place, we thought he was a great man. Today we know the truth that he did this and that and the other bad thing. This statue and plaque remains to serve history, and promise to everyone that this will never happen again", etc etc etc.
"Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it" said that Santayana guy...
Peace.