Vandals Target Confederate Monuments In Half-Dozen States

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

Jun 26, 1:36 AM EDT By JIM SALTER
Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Vandals have targeted monuments dedicated to the leaders and soldiers of the Confederacy, painting the slogan "Black lives matter" on memorials in a half-dozen states where the landmarks stand tall in parks and outside government buildings.

The graffiti reflects the racial tension that permeates post-Ferguson America, more than a week after a white gunman shot and killed nine black congregants at a Charleston, South Carolina, church.

Michael Allen, a lecturer in American culture studies at Washington University in St. Louis, compared the vandalism to the toppling of statues in Russia at the end of the Soviet empire.

"If the monuments are strong statements of past values, defacing them is the easiest and loudest way to rebuke those statements," Allen said.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CONFEDERATE_MONUMENTS_DEFACED?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-06-26-01-36-52

[roguevalley]

1. this doesn't help though I understand completely the sentiment. You should google the

man statue on the state capital, a dude named Tillman. You will be astonished. He has to come down too.

[d_legendary1]

21. Clemson University and Winthrop both have halls in this guy's name

According to Wiki this guy made sure blacks never served in government until the Civil Rights Act did away with his legislated bigotry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Tillman

[NotHardly]

2. There are options as the purpose of the Vandals...

They could be making the statement as support for "Black live matter" or they could be persons who intend through their vandalism to heat the issue further and they could be persons pretending to believe the statement but lay blame in a different direction as to the identity of who is doing it ... place to place, lots of options.

[delrem]

3. Good!

It's quite obvious that the US civil war isn't over.
The war should be fought until every last vestige of racist culture is eradicated.

And by that I don't mean substituting another racist target for the one in the news today!

[Nobel_Twaddle_III]

4. statues can be fixed, or not. Nine dead can not be resurrected.

or
Well bless their hearts, these people are just having a little rebellion, like the guy the statue is of. It's a cultural value, part of the local heritage.

[Jamastiene]

31. Exactly

Those nine people nor all of the other people ruthlessly murdered by hatemongers can be brought back. A statue is an inanimate object.

[JustAnotherGen]

5. Could it be a case of

Run of the mill kids doing stupid things?

I just checked to see if there was any news on the Church burned (arson) in NC a few days ago - and learned another one was burned in GA. Article in the Atlantic discussses Clinton's investigation in the mid 90's -they discovered 827 churches burned or bombed.

Could this be kids acting out?

ETA - http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/06/arson-churches-north-carolina-georgia/396881/

I also think we can't rule out someone agitating for the sake of agitating.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

30. Kids coordinated a mutil-state attack? Do there parents know where they are?

[Little Tich]

6. I don't really have it in me to condemn this form of vandalism. n/t

[bluestateguy]

7. I don't condone the vandalism

(Notice I didn't say I condemned it either)

[mwrguy]

8. Paint? Next time use thermite or a sawzall.

[The Jungle 1]

9. Have they lynched anyone?

Are they running around burning crosses. Is there latest clothing style a sheet. No they are not doing any of those things.
I am a white man living a comfortable life in suburbia. I am pretty sure I should not be judging paint smears.

[Euphoria]

26. +1

[OakCliffDem]

10. Sounds like a good start

Now let's finish the job on the rest of them.

[Buenaventura]

11. Tear down ALL war monuments -

start with that fucking wall in Washington.

[marble falls]

13. If you're talking about the wall for the dead from Viet Nam, you're out of line.

[heaven05]

23. why the wall in Washington, if you don't mind me asking.

a soldier is a necessity for any nation given human nature. They cannot set policy, the just HAVE TO carry it out, right or wrong. If the soldier, from the 5 star general down to the lowest private, finds that the cause they are fighting for is not what the POLITICIANS say it is, conscience searching is in order. Desertion is not an option but putting the truth of the lie out there can be. Speaking only for myself, I did it with VVAW, local chapter, and spoke out loud and clear on the lies I had bought. Our latest batch of soldiers, in spite of the 'Sniper' type propaganda are speaking out. So leave the dead alone if that is the intent of your statement.

[Maedhros]

28. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial does is not a monument to war,

it's a monument to the horrors of war, and I'm all in favor of those.

[marble falls]

12. Can't say I unconditionally support it, I sure as hell do not condemn it. Maybe its not....

vandalism, maybe is an expropriation of a monument to dead and forgettable traitors to create a memorial for black lives lost in a war for equality.

[msanthrope]

14. "Vandals." Um, no....nt

[restorefreedom]

16. if they had been from rich white neighborhoods doing this to union graves

they would be called misguided kids

just guessing

[Journeyman]

18. They are called vandals -- and worse -- every time they damage or destroy a monument. . .

Happens all the time at Gettysburg and other national military parks.

Gettysburg: A History of Vandalism

http://www.gettysburgdaily.com/gettysburg-a-history-of-vandalism/

Another Gettysburg Monument Vandalized

http://www.gettysburgdaily.com/another-gettysburg-monument-vandalized/

and more. . .

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/02/17/vandals_damage_civil_war_monuments_in_gettysburg/

http://www.civilwarnews.com/archive/articles/gburgvandals.htm

http://abc27.com/2011/10/26/gettysburg-battlefield-monument-repaired-years-after-vandalism/

http://abc27.com/2013/04/11/gettysburg-monument-restored-after-2006-vandalism/

[restorefreedom]

25. ok so they are all vandals fair enough

personally I don't agree that this is the way to go about it by destroying property. But I'm not a descendent of a slave so I'm not going to comment any further than that.

[mopinko]

15. good for them. i hope it doesnt get cleaned off.

or covered up. it is time.

[Paladin]

17. Suits me. I believe in constructive vandalism. (nt)

[truthisfreedom]

19. Pull 'em down.

Drive the supremacists crazy.

[Leontius]

20. The vandals are scumbags and so are the people supporting them.

[NuclearDem]

29. You've been...obvious for the last week or so.

[heaven05]

22. while it won't change

Last edited Fri Jun 26, 2015, 05:37 PM - Edit history (1)

the racists of america and won't stop the racists murders by citizens and executions by police, won't stop the lynchings and church burnings, I totally agree that these abominations that revere american traitors need to go. Remember when Saddam's statues were toppled, Lenin's during the fall of Berlin wall? Now's the time for all good americans to stand up and topple racism and it's everyday reminders. Won't change johnny reb and his yard flag, truck flags, or clothing and those I'm glad to see. Why? Because with the Charleston 9 going into the grave today, the enemy must be sorted out, as much as possible. The silent ones? Just hope they pick on the wrong person.

[packman]

24. Remove all those damn traitors statues in the Halls of Congress

Jefferson Davis, Lee, Vance and others:

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/24/confederate-capitol_n_7649156.html

[get the red out]

27. Here in Lexington, KY

Someone spray-painted "Black Lives Matter" on the statue of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan. Good for them!