By Mark Antony Rossi
I’ve seen this parade of protestors before. It’s related to the Stupid Memorial Movement. That’s where politicians and community organizers instead is attempting to unravel the roots of gun violence hold countless candle vigils and then raise money for a meaningless memorial site. If society has a fair chance to heal from centuries of stupidity we need meaningful acts that bring diverse groups together.
I say meaningless memorial site because it only serves as a painful reminder of a tragic event that is bound to happen again because so few want to promote what would be necessary to reduce societal harms. And all too often the remnants of the once vaulted American media complex decline to report violence and bigotry when it surfaces from groups it seeks to curry favor with. How is it possible to witness and hear more anti-Semitism at a Black Lives Matter protest than a KKK rally? Shouldn’t the truth be in reverse? Sadly, it is not.
Now we are in the middle of the Stupid Monument Movement. Thanks Monument Movement and just like the Stupid Memorial Movement is will lead to nowhere unless you consider soulless Symbolism something tangential. I don’t. The hate we seek to eradicate comes from the home; not the streets. Unless we create a method to stop parents from passing their irrational prejudices to their children it will continue to surface its ugly head in the next generation.
The Stupid Monument Movement is especially specious due to the fact that it accomplishes nothing in terms of racial progress but allows lazy politicians to advertise an impotent plan before the press proclaiming they struck a blow for civil rights. Removing a statue of a military leader stuck on the wrong side of history is doing nothing to educate society about the enduring evils of racism.
Any attempt by design or accident to shield the citizenry of history is bound to backfire. These statues as painful as they can be help remind us to ask probing questions about why soldiers fought for the side of slavery. Why the South’s best and brightest threw their support for an immoral way of life? What we learn from the human condition one hundred and fifty years ago is just as applicable in the 21st century where mechanical devices allow transcontinental communication in seconds but somehow, we still cannot talk to the neighbor of color next door.
About the Author: Mark Antony Rossi is a poet, playwright and author of the bioethics volume “Dark Tech” now available from Amazon. His most recent plays have been produced in Liverpool and New York.
http://ethical-stranger.webnode.com/