Current Events > University of Texas at Austin removed 4 confederate statues overnight

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/08/21/university-of-texas-takes-down-four-confederate-statues-overnight/?utm_term=.55ea8284de7c

The University of Texas removed four Confederate statues from its Austin campus early Monday morning, amid growing pressure to take down such monuments in the wake of racist violence in Charlottesville.

University president Gregory L. Fenves announced the decision late Sunday night, saying the “horrific displays of hatred” in Virginia had made it clear that Confederate statues had become “symbols of modern white supremacy and neo-Nazism.” Demonstrations by white supremacist groups in Charlottesville on Aug. 12 turned deadly after a neo-Nazi plowed a car into a crowd, killing one counterprotester and injuring at least 19 other people.

Fenves said he had considered the historical and cultural significance of four Confederate statues on campus — depicting Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, Albert Sidney Johnston, John Reagan and former Texas governor James Stephen Hogg — but concluded they were “severely compromised by what they symbolize.”

“Erected during the period of Jim Crow laws and segregation, the statues represent the subjugation of African Americans,” Fenves said in a statement. “That remains true today for white supremacists who use them to symbolize hatred and bigotry.”

I'm glad all this is happening, tbqh
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More. Take 'em all down.
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The university has full authority to do so, and did so.
I don't see the problem here.

rekt
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Asherlee10 posted...

Probably a good thing they went ahead and took them down to avoid further conflict.

What? How can you say that? Aren't you from the 512?
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I love how having literal Nazis protesting for the statues to stay up only accelerated the effort to take them down.
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Phantom_Nook posted...

I love how having literal Nazis protesting for the statues to stay up only accelerated the effort to take them down.

Wasn't this the plot to a South Park episode?

I am fine with whatever they do or don't do, as long as it doesn't make traffic fucking worse. Thank you UT for doing this in the middle of the night so some jackass protest doesn't cause 35 to back up and some violence antifa/nazi clash doesn't happen while I'm at Clark field making my glutes tight

This is how it will happen, the statues will all just disappear. One after the other. This is what you get for defending them violently and offensively. You have caused the very thing you didn't want.
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lol
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Questionmarktarius posted...

Phantom_Nook posted...

I love how having literal Nazis protesting for the statues to stay up only accelerated the effort to take them down.

Wasn't this the plot to a South Park episode?

Yep, except with the KKK.
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Sylph posted...

This is how it will happen, the statues will all just disappear. One after the other. This is what you get for defending them violently and offensively. You have caused the very thing you didn't want.

>THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT FOR DARING TO SPEAK OUT OF LINE

This process would have happened at some point, regardless if the other side fought against it or otherwise.
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Mt Rushmore should be next

Nice
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I'm waiting til there are no more Confederate monuments and they then turn to anyone who wasn't 100 percent squeaky clean and demand that they be taken down because muh feelings
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ZombiePelican posted...

I'm waiting til there are no more Confederate monuments and they then turn to anyone who wasn't 100 percent squeaky clean and demand that they be taken down because muh feelings

When we've gone too far...
http://www.theraffon.net/~spookcentral/media/loc_ny_rockefeller_real02.jpg

Asherlee10 posted...

muchdran posted...

Mt Rushmore should be next

Why?

Because they owned slaves
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donkeyjack posted...

Asherlee10 posted...

Probably a good thing they went ahead and took them down to avoid further conflict.

What? How can you say that? Aren't you from the 512?

I'd assume she isn't a backasswards Confederate-sympathizer.
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Isn't caving in to threats another word for successful terrorism?
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Weird considering how pro confederacy Texas is
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As I mentioned before, I guarantee there would have been a giant protest against the statues had they not been taken down already. The University would have inevitably been pressured to do so, and ultimately the student council would have taken action if the university officials had not.

Last year, a Jefferson Davis statue was moved in the same way - only that was based on a vote by the student council. There has already been a lot of talk about these statues among the more politically minded student organizations.

Now I expect some kind of demonstration from the Young Republicans or another similar group, but that will be on a much smaller scale than the anti statue protest would have been.

It's no coincidence that this happened a week before classes start imo. This decision is driven, in part, by pragmatism.
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Onepunch-Man posted...

Weird considering how pro confederacy Texas is

This is Austin.

There was a giant anti Trump march going through the University/city when the election happened, and there were already efforts underway to remove the statues. As mentioned before, the Jefferson Davis statue had already been removed a while ago.
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Asherlee10 posted...

ZombiePelican posted...

Asherlee10 posted...

muchdran posted...

Mt Rushmore should be next

Why?

Because they owned slaves

There's a rather large difference between the representation of Confederate war heroes on public lands (and private if you want to do something about it) and those who owned slaved.

That's the real reason the regressive left wants it gone. I said from the start that this is a slippery slope that will led to any monument being able to be taken down because muh feelings, and as always I was right
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"Horrific displays of hatred"

Ok, I get why people want them removed, but exaggerate much?
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Asherlee10 posted...

I don't think it's a slippery slope if sound logic is applied.

Feelings and sound logic don't mix


Asherlee10 posted...

I agree that bring "feelings" into it is not a good choice.

That's what this entire movement is based on

Asherlee10 posted...

I do think it should also be left up to each community to decide what to do with their statues.

The idea was brought up and shot down almost immediately here in NOLA, why? Because political virtue signaling is more important than letting the community decide
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Asherlee10 posted...

It seems unreasonable to not let the community decide. It's your community. Period.

Landrieu's aporoval rating was already in the toilet and he thought removing the monuments would gain him some approval from the people whom he's actively profiting off their displacement
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It's kind of ironic. The people arguing for the confederate flag would argue that the symbol changed to represent southern pride and states rights and was no longer representative of the confederacy and the school used the same symbols change logic to take it down.
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Questionmarktarius posted...

The university has full authority to do so, and did so.
I don't see the problem here.

Asherlee10 posted...

donkeyjack posted...

Asherlee10 posted...

Probably a good thing they went ahead and took them down to avoid further conflict.

What? How can you say that? Aren't you from the 512?

Yes, I'm from Austin. I don't understand your question.

You said it's a good thing that they went ahead put the monuments down. Isn't that like part of your Austin culture with those monuments? Like not everyone is perfect, this is outrageously ass.
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donkeyjack posted...

You said it's a good thing that they went ahead put the monuments down. Isn't that like part of your Austin culture with those monuments? Like not everyone is perfect, this is outrageously ass.

I would guess that the vast majority of Austinites would be in favor of taking the statues down.

Edit: At the very least the vast majority of UT Austin students.
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BLAKUboy posted...

More. Take 'em all down.

other symbols of violence must go as well
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Racists everywhere are upset by this news.

TheVipaGTS posted...

Racists everywhere are upset by this news.

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Asherlee10 posted...

donkeyjack posted...

Asherlee10 posted...

donkeyjack posted...

Asherlee10 posted...

Probably a good thing they went ahead and took them down to avoid further conflict.

What? How can you say that? Aren't you from the 512?

Yes, I'm from Austin. I don't understand your question.

You said it's a good thing that they went ahead put the monuments down. Isn't that like part of your Austin culture with those monuments? Like not everyone is perfect, this is outrageously ass.

I wouldn't say that they are much of a part of the culture in Austin, in fact, the opposite. Austin is a very liberal city.

Now, intense emotion about something that IS a part of our culture? The poisoning of Treaty Oak when I was a kid was heartbreaking. People wanted the guy who poisoned the tree to be put to death.

http://austinfound.blog.statesman.com/2015/05/06/25-years-later-intrigue-of-poisoned-treaty-oak-remains/



The poisoning of Austin’s venerable Treaty Oak by a feed store employee in 1989 still mystifies more than a quarter century later.

On May 11, 1990, Paul Stedman Cullen was sentenced to prison for poisoning the majestic, 600-year-old tree. Jurors could have sentenced Cullen to life in prison — and many Austinites called for it — but instead he served only one-third of a nine-year sentence.

Cullen’s wanton act stirred emotions and drew a national audience as the story unfolded throughout 1989 and 1990. American-Statesman reporters covered the events following the poisoning, from Cullen’s trial to the public outrage to the myriad ways the city attempted to save the ailing tree.

That's ridiculous. People are tearing down parts of History. They are doing because American History is full of winners. These.... I can't say anything but I'll leave it at that.
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donkeyjack posted...

Asherlee10 posted...

donkeyjack posted...

Asherlee10 posted...

donkeyjack posted...

Asherlee10 posted...

Probably a good thing they went ahead and took them down to avoid further conflict.

What? How can you say that? Aren't you from the 512?

Yes, I'm from Austin. I don't understand your question.

You said it's a good thing that they went ahead put the monuments down. Isn't that like part of your Austin culture with those monuments? Like not everyone is perfect, this is outrageously ass.

I wouldn't say that they are much of a part of the culture in Austin, in fact, the opposite. Austin is a very liberal city.

Now, intense emotion about something that IS a part of our culture? The poisoning of Treaty Oak when I was a kid was heartbreaking. People wanted the guy who poisoned the tree to be put to death.

http://austinfound.blog.statesman.com/2015/05/06/25-years-later-intrigue-of-poisoned-treaty-oak-remains/



The poisoning of Austin’s venerable Treaty Oak by a feed store employee in 1989 still mystifies more than a quarter century later.

On May 11, 1990, Paul Stedman Cullen was sentenced to prison for poisoning the majestic, 600-year-old tree. Jurors could have sentenced Cullen to life in prison — and many Austinites called for it — but instead he served only one-third of a nine-year sentence.

Cullen’s wanton act stirred emotions and drew a national audience as the story unfolded throughout 1989 and 1990. American-Statesman reporters covered the events following the poisoning, from Cullen’s trial to the public outrage to the myriad ways the city attempted to save the ailing tree.

That's ridiculous. People are tearing down parts of History. They are doing because American History is full of winners. These.... I can't say anything but I'll leave it at that.

How is anyone associated with the Confederacy a winner???? They are the biggest losers in American history .
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Asherlee10 posted...

donkeyjack posted...

That's ridiculous. People are tearing down parts of History. They are doing because American History is full of winners. These.... I can't say anything but I'll leave it at that.

I'm not understanding what you're trying to say. Are you referencing Treaty Oak or the statues?

Treaty Oak is very much a part of our history. It is the only surviving tree of the Council Oaks. A sacred meeting places for two Native American tribes. The tree is estimated to be over 500 years old.

The statues. I know the Treaty Oaks are something sacred to you Austinities but taking down the statues is just sacrilege to me.
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Why? Just because something is historical doesn't mean it has to remain. The history is still there. The statue will probably be put in a museum or an exhibit that provides context to the history. This outcry of "but our history!" Is just really odd to me.

TheVipaGTS posted...

Why? Just because something is historical doesn't mean it has to remain. The history is still there. The statue will probably be put in a museum or an exhibit that provides context to the history. This outcry of "but our history!" Is just really odd to me.

I'm not sure where these statues are being moved, but the Jefferson Davis statue from last year ended up in a historical display.
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Just remember in the future, if you find it offensive, tear it down. It might be OK now because its statues most consider are racist and dont care for any historical significance but im interested when its something else.
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Asherlee10 posted...

I agree that bring "feelings" into it is not a good choice.

ZombiePelican posted...

That's what this entire movement is based on

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Isn't the erection of a statue itself motivation just by "feelings"?

What's the logical justification behind erecting a statue?
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