Recently, many statues honoring Confederate leaders have been removed, in the same manner that people removed statues of Sadam Hussein in Iraq or of Stalin in Russia after their regimes ended. Some argue that by removing those statues we are artificially altering history. However, the Confederate statues themselves are artificial icons as most were not built until the early 20th Century, long after the Civil War ended in 1865. They were raised largely by Ku Klux Klan members who wanted to enshrine and romanticize the idea of an independent Confederacy. The people who actually lived through those times did not build the great majority of the statues. So, who has the right to decide what to do?
Caroline Randall Williams, a direct descendant of legendary Southern Confederate General Edmund Pettus provides her perspective in “You Want a Confederate Monument? My Body is a Confederate Monument.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/opinion/confederate-monuments-racism.htmlReading Response: “You Want a Confederate Monument? My Body is a Confederate Monument,” Caroline Randall Williams
For this response, address any combination of one or more of the following questions (you do not have to answer all). Use specific quotes from Williams’ essay to explain your response:
Why do you think we so rarely hear the perspective Williams provides, even though the majority of black Americans have white ancestors?
How does Williams establish her credibility in the essay? Does her tone contribute or detract from that credibility?
What are some lines from Williams’ essay that you find particularly effective in connecting with a reader? Or, what lines are less effective? Explain your reasoning.
What does Williams mean by her concluding lines? Explain: “Either way, I say the monuments of stone and metal, the monuments of cloth and wood, all the man-made monuments, must come down. I defy any sentimental Southerner to defend our ancestors to me. I am quite literally made of the reasons to strip them of their laurels.”
Compare Wiliams’ essay to Michelle Singletary’s brief essay on reparations “Yes, Black Americans are Entitled to Reparations” downloadwhere she uses a personal family history example to support here points, similar to the way Williams’ does. How are the essays similar? How do they differ?
Write at least 300 words.
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