In the United States, we have many public monuments and statues that glorify the nation’s founding fathers. One that has recently come under scrutiny is “The Apotheosis of Washington” which portrays George Washington as a god-like figure.
Multiculturalism is something that is thouroughly emphasized and promoted in the United States, and the country prides itself in its diversity. However, there are still many people who do not agree with that and believe that all people are created equal and should be treated as such, even if they are different. In a country that prides itself on being tolerant and respectful of the different peoples in the world, racism is still prevalent across the country, even within higher learning institutions.
The article below tells a simple, but not often discussed, historical fact: that racist monuments in America are not just statues, but they are also carved in stone. Originally, the term “monument” was used to describe statues that were “monumental” or “magnificent.” Pastel-colored statues were called “sculptures,” while statues made out of stone were called “monuments.” The term “statue” is a relatively new use of the word, and it was used only starting in the late 19th century.
How can white supremacy be explained? There is no scientific evidence for this.
Belief in unreasonable things
According to historian John Philip Jenkin’s Mystics and Messiahs, white supremacy is a deeply ingrained belief system that holds that Caucasians are inherently better than other races and therefore should have an advantage over them. That’s a credo we’ve been hearing a lot lately.
Highhandedness of a British politician
ArtNet News reports that the statue of imperialist Cecil Rhodes on the facade of Oxford University is the target of discontent among students, who want it removed.
But school officials say it’s too expensive to dismantle.
Rhodes was a rabid racist
Meredith Martin quotes Rhodes in her 2009 book Diamonds, Gold and Wa: They must learn that nine-tenths of them will have to do manual labour throughout their lives in the future, and the sooner they learn this, the better. To this end, Rhodes, as prime minister of the Cape Colony, drove the blacks off their land.
What about Thomas Jefferson’s chauvinism?
Among the tags, Oxford’s refusal to remove the statue of Rhodes, a slap in the face to protesters and an act of institutional racism. When I read the story about Rhodes at Oxford, I wondered if the statue of Thomas Jefferson at the University of Missouri should also be torn down.
Missouri students have been protesting since last year to demand the removal of the Jefferson statue, and for good reason. Here was this founding father who took for granted that all men were created equal, and who violated his own words by his bad behavior toward slaves.
A stubborn fanatic, even in death
The University of Missouri website admits that Jefferson was a cruel teacher who separated families to teach them discipline and labeled blacks as parasites on society because they were unable to take care of themselves as children. And when he died, he would only release five of the blacks he owned.
The remaining 700 or so were auctioned off.
Hypocrisy of the Founders
Jefferson even went so far as to call blacks inferior to whites in their physical and mental abilities. But like the racist Rhodes statues at the University of Oxford, the University of Missouri decided that the Jefferson statue would remain.
Jefferson’s tales of hypocrisy were likely a cover for former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Rick Santorum, who told the audience at a Young America Foundation event that Native Americans had not contributed to America. Yahoo News reports that he said: We have created a nation out of nothing. I mean, nothing happened here.
The civil war that will never end
Santorum’s views are those of white opinion leaders in politics, such as Rhodes and Jefferson, and of great names in literature. Rudyard Kipling said it was the white man’s job to civilize the non-white. He called this work the white man’s burden.
All of this could explain why the British royal family (who have not yet been named) have spoken out about the skin color of Meghan Markle’s half-black child.
The story of racism continues.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVEDA recent study shows that some monuments in the UK have been erected in the past to perpetuate the belief in a white supremacist culture, and that this racism is still being encouraged by the establishment.. Read more about examples of critical race theory in education and let us know what you think.
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