New Orleans is debating on saying goodbye to its racist past as Mayor Mitch Landrieu pushes to remove four Confederate statues throughout the city.
The Historic District Landmarks Commission voted 11-1 earlier this summer to move forward with removing the monuments, and clergy in New Orleans support Landrieu’s efforts.
It seems like Louisiana is slowly progressing in the right direction. Jindal, of course, is attempting to reverse our progress by trying to enforce a “heritage act” to prevent Landrieu from removing the statues.
Jindal forgot one important detail: Louisiana doesn’t have a heritage act, nor has it ever had a heritage act. At this point, I think Jindal just says things for fun.
I guess he’s been out of Louisiana for so long he can’t remember our laws. It seems like Jindal only wants to be the governor of our state when he wants to ruin something.
How can a man who fights so hard to shrink government justify telling a city what it can do within its borders? He advocates for small, local government, yet he wants to override a near-unanimous vote of its city council.
He wants to lower taxes, but he can’t see the hypocrisy in taxpayers funding the upkeep of these monuments.
I understand the need for government funding to repair and maintain government buildings like schools or court houses. The American people use those government buildings constantly, so it’s reasonable to think we should keep them presentable.
The Confederate monuments in New Orleans are purely aesthetic and unnecessary for the city to function. If Jindal is against wasteful spending, he should unwaveringly support removing the statues.
Instead of destroying the monuments or subsidizing their upkeep, New Orleans should sell them.
New Orleans could put the profits made by selling the monuments toward something useful for the city. A USA Today report showed that New Orleans saw a surge in homicide rates through July 7. At this time last year, the rate was 77 homicides. At the same point this year, the number is at 98. Perhaps they could put the profits from selling the statues toward better policing.
New Orleans could also donate the monuments to a private historical preservation committee. In its care, Louisiana’s controversial history would have proper context.
I would never advocate washing away our history. It’s important for Louisianans to remember their ancestors’ choices and consequences.
However, the New Orleans statues go beyond remembering our past. They seem to glorify our past and put American traitors on a pedestal at the expense of a majority-black city.
Some may look at the statues as southern heritage, which is true. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate States of America are part of our history, but not everything about our heritage is worth celebrating.
We don’t celebrate slavery, so why should we celebrate Confederate soldiers? They are the symbols of a pro-slavery secessionist government.
Removing the monuments won’t end racism in the United States or in Louisiana, but that shouldn’t stop us from trying to progress. If we’re going to move forward with condemning racism, we need to remove the symbols from the public sphere.
Cody Sibley is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from Opelousas, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter @CodySibley.