Ben Tillman, lyncher on a plinthA STATUE’S fate might seem a binary issue: it is either up, like that of Cecil Rhodes, a British imperialist, at Oxford University, or down, like those of Lenin recently toppled across Ukraine, or the Confederate leaders soon to be ousted from their perches in New Orleans. The Atlanta History Centre, however, thinks there is a middle way between iconoclasm and inaction—an approach that might help to salve historiographical rows raging across the South and beyond.
Since Sheffield Hale, a thoughtful former lawyer, took charge in 2012, the museum has become a lively propagator of regional history. Mr Hale himself comes from on old southern family—many of his ancestors fought for the Confederacy—and says that, in the past, he didn’t appreciate how painful tributes to slavery’s defenders could be for black Americans. He still believes the likenesses of Robert E. Lee and the rest should stay on their plinths, but not quite as they are: educational panels should be added to explain their backgrounds, with scannable codes that link to more information, such as encyclopedia entries, in the...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/1S2V5LB
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