Sep 5, 2017
Today, Matt and I talk about the
ongoing controversy over the removal of Confederate monuments in
the United States and the importance of public history to our
discipline.
Matt recently made the case for the removal of the statue in
Houston named “The Spirit of the Confederacy.” We argue that we
make choices in terms of how we remember the past, and that
celebrating those who resisted slavery, like Virginia Boyd, is a
more appropriate use of public space. Matt’s speech,
the letter from Virginia Boyd to her slave master in 1853, the
Washington Post call to action for medievalists, Baptist’s The
Half Has Never Been Told, an article on the German military
myth that they were not involved in the Holocaust, and even links
to the book written by Judge Norman G. Kittrell (who gave a speech
at the unveiling of the statue) are all available online. Those who
wish to contribute to the Gofundme’s for a Houston student injured
in Charlottesville, those arrested in Durham, or the family of
Heather Heyer can follow the links here. Our next episode will look
in more depth at other examples from world history that can help
contextualize the current situation in the US. Recommendations
are:
Matt – Kirk Savage, Standing Soldiers,
Kneeling Slaves
Dave
– Atieno-Odhiambo and Lonsdale (eds), Mau Mau and
Nationhood