Earlier this week the Stone Mountain Memorial Association selected Warner Museums to design a new interpretive space for the controversial relief sculpture and surrounding community.
"There are plenty of people who would prefer blasting the massive sculpture of Confederate president Jefferson Davis and generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson off the side of the mountain." I admit that I instantly thought of ISIS after reading that. Just my two cents, but I think a contemporary reinterpretation of the site would be much better.
I would not put it so bluntly, but I do wonder at what point this crosses over into destruction of art. There are innumerable statues of people from ancient and medieval times who did very wicked things (very much including owning slaves) that it would be artistic vandalism to actually destroy. Is it because we are still so relatively close to the events that we feel that we still have claim over whether the monuments live or die?
But it It is probably true to say that the builders of Stone Mountain created a trap for us.
Stone Mountain is crazy over the top to begin with, whereas Monument Avenue, leaving aside for a moment who was honored and why, was more human scale and normal. But it creates the situation in which blowing it to bits seems more shocking than simply moving a statue.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I guess I have trouble referring to Stone Mountain as a work of art. Apart from its scale I don’t see anything particularly interesting about it. Let’s imagine for a moment that it was never completed. Would we worry as much about its possible destruction?
It isn’t just “important to understand the ways in which the Lost Cause narrative reinforced and justified legal segregation and resistance against civil rights efforts,” it is demandingly imperative. If people won’t realize the long standing and ongoing effects of the Civil War mentality, I don’t see how we can ever heal from it. Ever.
I sincerely hope they move forward as they say they intend to do. But actions speak louder than words. They still have a day to have dedicated as a confederate memorial day and over a year ago they stated they had plans to move the confederate flags to the back of the park. Nothing has begun on that front, was it all just words? I hope not. I know nothing changes overnight, but at Stone Mountain, no actual changes have been made. We'll see.
"There are plenty of people who would prefer blasting the massive sculpture of Confederate president Jefferson Davis and generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson off the side of the mountain." I admit that I instantly thought of ISIS after reading that. Just my two cents, but I think a contemporary reinterpretation of the site would be much better.
Hi Paul,
I am not sure I agree. Comparing Americans who see Stone Mountain as a symbol of racial segregation and violence with ISIS seems unfair to me.
I would not put it so bluntly, but I do wonder at what point this crosses over into destruction of art. There are innumerable statues of people from ancient and medieval times who did very wicked things (very much including owning slaves) that it would be artistic vandalism to actually destroy. Is it because we are still so relatively close to the events that we feel that we still have claim over whether the monuments live or die?
But it It is probably true to say that the builders of Stone Mountain created a trap for us.
Stone Mountain is crazy over the top to begin with, whereas Monument Avenue, leaving aside for a moment who was honored and why, was more human scale and normal. But it creates the situation in which blowing it to bits seems more shocking than simply moving a statue.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I guess I have trouble referring to Stone Mountain as a work of art. Apart from its scale I don’t see anything particularly interesting about it. Let’s imagine for a moment that it was never completed. Would we worry as much about its possible destruction?
It isn’t just “important to understand the ways in which the Lost Cause narrative reinforced and justified legal segregation and resistance against civil rights efforts,” it is demandingly imperative. If people won’t realize the long standing and ongoing effects of the Civil War mentality, I don’t see how we can ever heal from it. Ever.
Exactly.
I sincerely hope they move forward as they say they intend to do. But actions speak louder than words. They still have a day to have dedicated as a confederate memorial day and over a year ago they stated they had plans to move the confederate flags to the back of the park. Nothing has begun on that front, was it all just words? I hope not. I know nothing changes overnight, but at Stone Mountain, no actual changes have been made. We'll see.
Hi Erica. I couldn't agree more. The public is going to need to see progress on multiple fronts moving forward.