Imagine you meet a woman who refuses to drive or ride in a car, despite the inconveniences such a conviction would cause. She might seem unreasonable and perhaps silly, but if you knew that she or a loved one nearly lost their life in a car accident, her decision makes more sense. The necessary ligament connecting these changes in perception is, of course, context. Understanding the context of a monument can be just as necessary as understanding this theoretical woman's hardship. Unfortunately, because of a monument's fixed, unmoving existence, a frame of reference has to be sought out, and any lack of it fosters ignorance of the person or event. When considering who or what to memorialize, or when or how to create a monument, context can be
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Thus, it is vital to always consider who or what is being revered in a monument, and in doing so, what message is being sent. Oftentimes, memorials and statues display very limited excerpts of history. The well-known "discoverer of America", Christopher Columbus, is a prime example. Source B (Photo) shows a statue of Columbus in Riverside Park, Pennsylvania, but the explorer never actually set foot in North America. What's more, in invading Central and South America, he widely spread disease and directly caused the death of some 90% of the indigenous population. The mass genocide of an entire people is not something to be celebrated, and when commemorating a famous figure, it is necessary to know the context of their existence and accordingly, to recognize what you're glorifying and what you're idolizing. Another case in which "who" should have been taken …show more content…
When was it created? Was it soon after the depicted person lived or event occurred, or was it a long time later? Where was it created, and what subsequent message does its location send? For example, the majority of Confederate statues were not in fact created during the Civil War, but long after it, during times of Jim Crow Laws and the Civil Rights Movement. Without its historical context, the statues can be argued as representing a significant time in history, but within it, they reveal much more unsavory motives. On the other hand, the Savannah Memorial Park is the site of a grave, occupied by "pioneers from the Santa Fe Trail [who] would bring their dead along with them...and bury them [there]" (Source D). This site illustrates a memorial that was created as the event it showcases was happening. This makes the monument inherently more accurate, as it is not just a posthumous reproduction, but an encapsulation of actual events. Furthermore, as shown in Source E, a monument's location factors into the message its creation sends. In 2008, the United States set out to build a large but controversial Holocaust museum in Washington D.C. The controversy lies in its location; when Jewish, Romani, and other non-Aryan groups were in dire need, the US "did little to stop the Holocaust from occurring." A protester of the museum goes on to express the offensiveness of such a monument,
Thus, it is vital to always consider who or what is being revered in a monument, and in doing so, what message is being sent. Oftentimes, memorials and statues display very limited excerpts of history. The well-known "discoverer of America", Christopher Columbus, is a prime example. Source B (Photo) shows a statue of Columbus in Riverside Park, Pennsylvania, but the explorer never actually set foot in North America. What's more, in invading Central and South America, he widely spread disease and directly caused the death of some 90% of the indigenous population. The mass genocide of an entire people is not something to be celebrated, and when commemorating a famous figure, it is necessary to know the context of their existence and accordingly, to recognize what you're glorifying and what you're idolizing. Another case in which "who" should have been taken …show more content…
When was it created? Was it soon after the depicted person lived or event occurred, or was it a long time later? Where was it created, and what subsequent message does its location send? For example, the majority of Confederate statues were not in fact created during the Civil War, but long after it, during times of Jim Crow Laws and the Civil Rights Movement. Without its historical context, the statues can be argued as representing a significant time in history, but within it, they reveal much more unsavory motives. On the other hand, the Savannah Memorial Park is the site of a grave, occupied by "pioneers from the Santa Fe Trail [who] would bring their dead along with them...and bury them [there]" (Source D). This site illustrates a memorial that was created as the event it showcases was happening. This makes the monument inherently more accurate, as it is not just a posthumous reproduction, but an encapsulation of actual events. Furthermore, as shown in Source E, a monument's location factors into the message its creation sends. In 2008, the United States set out to build a large but controversial Holocaust museum in Washington D.C. The controversy lies in its location; when Jewish, Romani, and other non-Aryan groups were in dire need, the US "did little to stop the Holocaust from occurring." A protester of the museum goes on to express the offensiveness of such a monument,