The Statues Keep Coming Down

[Belsnickel]

So, I get several daily news emails. I get one from the AP, one from my local newspaper, one from Grist (yeah, I'm a big ol' hippy), and my favorite which is an aggregate of political news in Virginia. I got a chuckle out of this story, but it definitely brings the statue conversation back around.

https://www.virginiamercury.com/blog-va/virginia-house-votes-to-remove-statue-of-segregationist-harry-byrd-sr-from-capitol-square/

So, the tl;dr version is that a Republican tried introducing a bill in our House of Delegates last year to remove a statue of Harry Byrd, Sr., from Capitol Square. It was supposed to be a "gotcha" for Democrats because he was one of their own. But the Democrats supported the idea and the bill was withdrawn. Well, this session, the Democrats introduced a bill to remove it, themselves, and it passed. One of the nay votes? The Republican who introduced the bill last year.

Anyway, this does highlight that there are people in the years beyond the Civil War that did some shitty thing. Byrd was a staunch segregationist, for instance. Now, he wasn't a traitor to the nation like the Civil War generals, were, but he was on the wrong side of history with his racism. So what are your thoughts on this sort of statue removal?

[GMDino]

(01-28-2021, 09:40 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: So, I get several daily news emails. I get one from the AP, one from my local newspaper, one from Grist (yeah, I'm a big ol' hippy), and my favorite which is an aggregate of political news in Virginia. I got a chuckle out of this story, but it definitely brings the statue conversation back around.

https://www.virginiamercury.com/blog-va/virginia-house-votes-to-remove-statue-of-segregationist-harry-byrd-sr-from-capitol-square/

So, the tl;dr version is that a Republican tried introducing a bill in our House of Delegates last year to remove a statue of Harry Byrd, Sr., from Capitol Square. It was supposed to be a "gotcha" for Democrats because he was one of their own. But the Democrats supported the idea and the bill was withdrawn. Well, this session, the Democrats introduced a bill to remove it, themselves, and it passed. One of the nay votes? The Republican who introduced the bill last year.

Anyway, this does highlight that there are people in the years beyond the Civil War that did some shitty thing. Byrd was a staunch segregationist, for instance. Now, he wasn't a traitor to the nation like the Civil War generals, were, but he was on the wrong side of history with his racism. So what are your thoughts on this sort of statue removal?

But...uh..."other side"?

I dunno Bels....it's almost like some people project everything they are on others and then act all surprised that they aren't.

[Dill]

(01-28-2021, 09:40 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: Anyway, this does highlight that there are people in the years beyond the Civil War that did some shitty thing. Byrd was a staunch segregationist, for instance. Now, he wasn't a traitor to the nation like the Civil War generals, were, but he was on the wrong side of history with his racism. So what are your thoughts on this sort of statue removal?

Byrd did acknowledge his mistake and denounce the klan though, once the Dems embraced civil rights.

Dems cannot be trusted to stay on the wrong side of history.

Or maybe they are hiding their racist, Klan-supporting past?

That's why they want to take the statue down.