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The President of the University of Texas at Austin released a letter regarding the removal of statues on the campus.
[...] The University of Texas at Austin is a public educational and research institution, first and foremost. The historical and cultural significance of the Confederate statues on our campus — and the connections that individuals have with them — are severely compromised by what they symbolize. Erected during the period of Jim Crow laws and segregation, the statues represent the subjugation of African Americans. That remains true today for white supremacists who use them to symbolize hatred and bigotry.
The University of Texas at Austin has a duty to preserve and study history. But our duty also compels us to acknowledge that those parts of our history that run counter to the university's core values, the values of our state and the enduring values of our nation do not belong on pedestals in the heart of the Forty Acres.
The issue isn't a new one, they first looked into the issue in 2015, and had a wide range of options including effectively turning the mall into an open air museum, which they eventually decided against. Should the statues be relocated from their historical context just because of the attitudes and behaviour of noisy minorities? (Your humble editor cannot forget the local riots when a historical but hostile-themed statue was relocated.)
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22 2017, @07:45PM
The claim is that the American Civil war was about States' Rights.
That is true in a weird sort of way.
The South got all pissed off when northern states claimed States' Rights in refusing to obey the federal law which said that folks in those states had to help return escaped slaves to anyone who claimed a black person present in one of those states as his property.
Note here that a black person wasn't allowed to give testimony in a court, even in his own defense, refuting the white guy's claim.
Up in the (meta)thread, I linked to an excellent KPFA presentation on this.
...and it's interesting how The Confederate Conscription Act exempted from serving in the army anyone who owned at least 20 slaves. [google.com]
...and for each additional 20 slaves owned, 1 more white guy residing at/working on that estate could be exempted.
"Never about slavery"?? Don't be ridiculous.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(A Southerner who left The South.)