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University of St. Thomas historian on toppling of statues

Associate professor of history, David Williard, said tearing down statues is part of America's history.

MINNEAPOLIS — In the wake of George Floyd’s death, protests reignited over statues that symbolize hate and racism in the country.

Just yesterday, work crews took down a General Stonewall Jackson statue in Richmond, Virginia. That was just hours after the mayor ordered the removal of all Confederate statues from city land.

In early June, a group of people toppled the Christopher Columbus statue at the Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul. The incident was met with mixed reaction, some saying "this is history" and, "we had to own it, good or bad." Others saying Columbus was “an awful person.”

Associate professor of history at the University of St. Thomas, David Williard, said tearing down statues is part of our country’s history. He said the origin of toppling statues in this country started during the Revolution on July 9, 1776 in New York.

“The first thing they do is they go pull down a bronze statue of King George III and they melt him down and turn him into musket balls to be used to fight the Revolution,” Williard said.

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Fast forward more than 100 years later to after the Civil War when the Jim Crow south is coming into being. Williard said a group, which would be later known as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, built about 1,300 known statues nationwide to honor Confederate soldiers and generals. Williard said recent speeches for when those statues were dedicated at the University of North Carolina and the University of Mississippi have been uncovered. He said it gives us a clearer idea of the intent of these statues.

“They are very explicit that these are statues for white supremacy,” Williard said. “In North Carolina’s case, the language is really appalling. It’s about attacking an African American woman freed from slavery because she disrespected a white woman." He said the case in Mississippi is even more clear. “In the case of the University of Mississippi, it’s a blatant celebration of reconstruction as a victory for white supremacy."

Knowing that, Williard said statues being dragged, beheaded, even tossed into water by groups in cities across the country is a long time coming.

“One of the things that I try to get students to think about and, really it’s important to me, is that we don’t see statues as sort of synonymous with history,” Williard said. “That just because a statue gets built doesn’t mean that statue is telling the truth."

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“If you can look at a statue of Christopher Columbus, if you can look at a lake that’s named for John Calhoun or a statue of Robert E. Lee, knowing about the history of those people and say that doesn’t represent our community and it has no place in our society, then I think what you’re doing is actually owning history."

Williard uses the example of the renaming of Bde Maka Ska Lake in Minneapolis.

“Which claim is more authentic to Minnesota? Which claim is more authentic to our relationship as Minnesotans, to that lake? Which claim is more authentic to the society that we want and to me, every bit the historian in me says we should do that work,” Williard said.

To own it, in what he calls, a much more vigorous way.

Williard says we should learn about these historical figures and understand times are changing, and propping them up can be harmful. He thinks both can coexist.

RELATED: Trump signs executive order to protect statues after Andrew Jackson removal attempt

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