With the continuous development of the "Black people's fate" demonstrations in the United States, several famous presidents in the United States have been labeled as "racist", causing their memorial statues to be overthrown by the demonstrators or demolished by the authorities. . Now, this round of counterattack finally comes to President Lincoln who liberated the blacks. It is reported that Boston has decided to remove a statue of Abraham Lincoln. In Wisconsin, there are also black organizations that advocate the removal of the Lincoln statue at the university.
On the evening of June 30th, a unanimous vote in Boston, USA decided to remove a statue of a free slave kneeling at the feet of Abraham Lincoln in a park in Boston. This statue has been standing in this park since 1879 and is a replica of the Washington DC Monument. Because this is the hometown of Thomas Bauer, the white sculptor who created the Lincoln statue in Washington. Although this monument was built to celebrate the liberation of black Americans, its design disturbed many people.
Because a black man kneeled in front of his white savior, he has been making black people uncomfortable for many years. In 2018, Boston launched a comprehensive review to examine whether public sculptures, monuments and other works of art reflect the diversity of the city, and whether they did not offend black people, especially works of “problematic history”. Since then, more than 12,000 people have signed a petition requesting the removal of the statue. This time the "Lincoln" was finally resolved, but officials did not have a specific date for the removal.
Coincidentally, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Madison, the capital of Wisconsin, some black students hope that the school will remove one of its most iconic landmarks, the statue of Abraham Lincoln, because they think it The former president has a history of anti-indigenous and anti-black, even though Lincoln ended slavery in the United States. Two student organizations, the Black Student Union and the Student Inclusion Alliance, began calling for the removal of the statue in early June.
Earlier this week, protesters demolished two other statues in the state capitol, one of which was a statue of Civil War abolitionist Hans Christian Hegg. The other is a statue representing a white female figure in the state. The collapse of these statues led to a severe ideological split in the city. Demonstrators argued that this action aroused concern about the inequality that whites had long ignored, while the opposition condemned the destruction of these people as utter scorn.
The proposal to remove the Lincoln Statue of the University will also cause a lot of controversy. Black students said that certain aspects of Lincoln's history made him ineligible to enjoy honors in the most prominent place on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. And Rebecca Blank, president of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, stood up and questioned that if a "great liberator" like Lincoln is one of the people who will be "dismantled", then when discussing the history of the United States, there is Who is a sinner?
Black students believe that Lincoln’s stains include: Hanging 38 Dakota Indians in Minnesota in 1862. He also signed the "Homestead Act" to take land from Native Americans. In addition, in a debate speech, he argued that there are physical differences between blacks and whites, and he supports the "superior" status assigned to whites. Lincoln’s original words were: “There is a physical difference between whites and blacks. I believe this will forever prohibit these two races from living together under conditions of social and political equality.”
As early as 2015, another Black student groups put forward a series of requests, including the removal of the Lincoln statue. The university’s student union called for an additional explanatory sign in 2017, acknowledging that Lincoln had sentenced 38 Native Americans to death. But the principal, Blank, refused, saying that Lincoln's role in this matter was "moderate" because he had already rejected the original punishment of 350 death sentences. Blank said: Like all presidents, Lincoln's legacy is complicated. It seems that he is flawed 150 years later, but Lincoln is still widely regarded as our greatest president.
University of Connecticut professor and civil war historian Manissa Sinha said that if the University of Wisconsin-Madison demolished the statue of Lincoln,She would be "shocked" because it was obviously a mistake. She said: "History is complicated and delicate. Many of the characters we respect, such as (George) Washington or Lincoln, are not perfect for everything. We recognize the complexity of historical figures, not that these guys are bad guys. This will ruin the entire history of the United States, because the United States is based entirely on the massacre of Native Americans.”
But students of color at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said, The school has had little effect in solving the black population and isolation. Because on campus, 2% of students are black and less than 1% are American Indians. Black student McWatt said: "I really want to see more action to show that black students are really important here. Many people are talking about how they support us, but I just want to see them do more. ”
