I have recently thought about the symbols we respect and revere more seriously. Flags, statues, monuments, and the police. Recently, here in Worcester, the statue of Christopher Columbus at Union Station was defaced. This has created an outcry in two directions … take the statue down and “How dare you desecrate this statue?”
For many years now, I have tried to think about what our symbols stand for — the ideal behind them and the reality that occurs. But, like all of us, I have ignored or just taken for granted that a flag (think the Massachusetts state flag) or statues/monuments we have erected are around. The BLM movement has helped me to refocus and pay attention to what these symbols are and what they represent.
I applaud people around the world focusing on flags, statuary and the police to show that there are other voices that need to be heard. Flags stand for what is important to a community … a state … a nation … a cause. Statuary indicates who and what events, we, want to commemorate and revere. The police signify what our society enforces and who gets treated well, fairly or not.
Let us start with flags. Recently, Mississippi took steps to rethink their state flag. I was glad to read the news … the Confederate battle flag in the upper left corner of the flag had to go! So, now the Native Americans residing in our own state have reignited a controversy (they have been pursuing a change in the flag since the 1980s) with our own state flag…the broad sword hanging over the head of the “Indian”. I can remember seeing that when I was younger and wondering about that symbolism. But I did not really think about it too much. The Native Americans have a simple solution for changing the flag … remove the arm with the broad sword and replace it with a pine tree.
Next, statues and monuments need to be addressed. Who do we commemorate … want to remember? What kind of event do we to honor? We erect monuments to the fallen in wars. Every place I have lived has monuments to war. But, here in Worcester, there has been a controversy with who is remembered. A plaque commemorating fallen African-American soldiers that had been visible at Holy Cross College had been removed and “lost” was only recently located and placed in a viewable space. As far as Christopher Columbus goes, there are a lot of people who have had a problem with his accomplishments. He is revered in the Italian-American community but not so much in other parts of the community. Finally, in Boston, there are statues to artists, statesmen, and reformers as well as Christopher Columbus (who was beheaded recently) and monuments to war. Unfortunately, the monument to the Mass. 54th was defaced by people who resented the contribution of African-Americans from Massachusetts in the Civil War maybe.
And, finally, the police need to be looked at. For way too long, it has been accepted that if you are young (I remember being unnecessarily hassled then), black, brown, a woman, LGBTQA, homeless or mentally ill (weird) that it is OK to harass you or even hurt you … maybe even kill you and get away with it. I am no longer in any category which the police feel they can harass me, but I have not forgotten what it was like. I remember starting out 2-3 hours early to be on time for doctor’s appointments because I might be stopped in the vehicle, I was in was stopped for no good reason. It happened more often than I like to remember. I am fortunate that I no longer must worry about that but there are too many people who must worry and cope with this all their lives. The police must be reformed in a drastic way.
We need to have a reasoned, broad, and informed conversation … discussion … about all our symbols and their impact on the community. I am glad these symbols are be reexamined or maybe examined for the first time. We need to question what we hold dear and why. We also need to listen to everyone in the community and respect their point of view. Then we can have our symbols mean something real and project the ideals we want to promote. I would like to see us discuss, in a reasonable and measured way, what a flag, statue, monument and yes…how our police (all of them) really stands for and how they work.
Lee O’Donnell reflects on recent events in Worcester.
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