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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: 2) by cubancigar11 on Wednesday August 23 2017, @07:00AM (4 children)
Depends. Were the statues of Hitler erected many decades ago? Are they being removed many decades later? Are they to be removed by a generation that didn't even fight in the war? The example of Hitler is spurious at best, and wilfully disingenuous at worst. The war to establish or tear down a statue was fought by a generation that has passed down to history. Is it a good idea to resurrect a historical war? Is that going to bridge any gaps or create another rift ripe for exploitation by politicians?
Why would a weaker section of society resurrect a historical war? Don't they have real wars to fight now? If not then how are they weak?
Personally, I am not an American and I don't believe that people were fighting against slavery ever. Or racism. Not even today. I also don't really give 2 hoots about the actual statues or their status. But I am very worried that the so-called paragon of education - the American Universities where rest of the world goes to learn a thing or two - have become a place where questions aren't being allowed or answered. I am worried that social media - a p;lace beholden to whims of rich private entities [inshorts.com] with no oversight or accountability - a place which could well be considered a sinkhole of history - is the only place left to document arguments. That worries me a lot.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 23 2017, @03:59PM (3 children)
Your worries are based off the ramblings of psychopaths and brainwashed fools.
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Wednesday August 23 2017, @06:33PM (2 children)
Okay AC. Everyone is wrong YOU are right.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 23 2017, @10:07PM (1 child)
This is just so wrong! There is no massive conspiracy to persecute conservatives, the people that worry about such things tend to get their information from propaganda sources. It isn't EVERYONE is wrong, just you with this overblown worry about censorship / thought crimes / whatever. I imagine the actual scenarios are more like: conservative student tries to bring up ridiculous controversy with no evidence, gets immediately shut down by professor who actually knows what they're talking about. If you want to call that a sinkhole then you're nuts.
Should a biology teacher allow a student to sidetrack the entire class for an hour trying to debate evolution?
From my perspective we are in a time period where a lot of ignorance is being washed away, but a small minority of the US population refuses to adapt to this changing world. They are free to believe what they want, but they are not allowed to push their opinions in the academic arena without actual evidence. There are private religious universities for people who want such a curriculum.
You may not be American, but you should have heard something about the Civil War, Civil Rights Movement, etc. Due to the astoundingly bad statements you have made, well yes, AC is right and you are wrong.
I will agree that social media and the like is a plague upon actual discussion / debate and we need platforms not controlled by single private entities.
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Wednesday August 23 2017, @10:32PM
Your whole premise is wrong because you have not bothered to understand what I am saying. You have invented a whole new straw man of such magnitude - not only you talk about conservatives which I didn't, you talk about persecution of conservatives which also I didn't, but then you talk about conspiracy to persecute and then try to refute that there is no "massive" conspiracy to persecute conservatives. First of all, a conspiracy is not a criteria to persecute someone, just like there was no conspiracy to persecute blacks. You just need apathy and a strong reason to maintain status quo, both of which are there. Secondly, conservative-liberal are a dichotomy upon which no educated person seeking the truth should base his actions. Universities are. The letter itself is all the proof you ever need, talking about values and morals as if these things are set in stone. Didn't Rosa Park win in court? Didn't court itself allow it for hundreds of years? When court of law itself makes or unmakes the definition of what is constitutional or unconstitutional, what authority does a university have to get involved? If 50 years from now there is a resurgence in pro-slavery pro-racist politics, will the statues be re-instated because 'they match with your core belief and values'? What a fucking joke!
Considering the amount of bitching and crying it is causing, it doesn't look like a "small minority" to outsiders, you know? Tell you what, when you will drop the politics of hate yourself, you will start to understand what I actually wrote.