Liberty From Statue
Earlier this week in New Orleans, Mayor Mitch Landrieu gave a speech to address his city’s much-debated decision to take down several statues that were seen by many as Confederate monuments. The speech itself is a monument to unity and diversity. “These statues are not just stone and metal. They are not just innocent remembrances of a benign history. These monuments purposefully celebrate a fictional, sanitized Confederacy; ignoring the death, ignoring the enslavement, and the terror that it actually stood for … Can you look into that young girl’s eyes and convince her that Robert E. Lee is there to encourage her? Do you think she will feel inspired and hopeful by that story? Do these monuments help her see a future with limitless potential? Have you ever thought that if her potential is limited, yours and mine are too?”