Earlier on this week, the news broke about decision of the
Republic House in Tennessee to withhold $250,000 from the city to be used for
the bicentennial celebration that is next year. The withholding of these funds
comes because of the decision to remove the Confederate statues that were still
standing in Memphis.
The decision seems to have split the Republic House, with
some Republicans such as Antonio Parkinson calling the amendment vile and racist.
Because of his view, he was cut off by boos and jaunts from fellow lawmakers,
however stood by his word, calling it racist.
Personally, I share this view. Memphis has effectively been
punished for doing a good and moral thing by removing these statues from public
places, and I find it hard to believe that anyone could see it any differently.
The fact that Memphis is now being punished for this ridiculous and petty.
What was more astounding was the link that some representatives
made between the removal of the statues, and the practise of erasing history
which is carried out by some extremist groups such as ISIS. There are so many
things wrong with this statement. It wasn’t about erasing history. It was about
black Memphians not having to be constantly reminded that their ancestors were
oppressed for years by this “idol” Forrest. The intent was never to forget
Forrest existed, as that would be an insult to the many the were oppressed
under his ruling.
The House was truly split on this amendment, with some
Republicans saying that it was a shame a larger sum of money was not docked
from Memphis, with others stating that they had no idea that the rest of
Tennessee disliked Memphis.
This is such a good example outside of economics that shows
how Civil Rights is still very much a contemporary issue, and also shows the
troubles that can be faced when tackling issues over Civil Rights, and how they
are addressed. The removal of these statues was seen as more unjust than what
the statues represented in the first place. It doesn’t bode well on future
progress Memphis may make, when this was the reaction to this particular
chapter on Memphis’ fight for equality and racial justice.
I totally agree. Memphis is continually at the whim of state (Nashville) opinion and I'm constantly frustrated by the discrepancy between the theoretical benefit of federalism and the broken reality of a system that cannot ever hope to create bottom-up change because of the bureaucracy and hierarchy entrenched in the US political system. You very adeptly draw attention to the fact that this is not a new phenomena and it will continue so long as the current system is in place.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that this is vile and racist. You draw attention to the fact that it is not erasing history but removing signs of oppression. What is so interesting about this debate to me is that the history that is being erased is one of white supremacy that ignores the humanity of those that are not white. The statues should have been removed a long time ago but our "post-racial" era is one that continues to oppress.
ReplyDeleteI am in continuous disbelief that this is a real issue in 2018. Not only is this completely disregarding the comfort and rights of black Memphians, as Keziah has pointed out, but I find the House to be hypocritical; one of the fundamental ideas of Republicans/libertarians is to decrease government involvement in everyday life, yet here they are enforcing just that.
ReplyDeleteI also think that Memphians have been really good at calling out the allocation removal as what it is (racist, of course). Rather than stand idly and let the statehouse punish the city for advocating for a more representative historical memory, people from Tami Sawyer to Rhodes students immediately recognized the act as an attack on the pursuit of justice. It's still stunning to me that House Republicans thought they could get away with it, but Atticus is very right - this isn't anything new.
ReplyDelete