Why can’t people just leave history alone and focus on their own lives?
The College Fix reports:
Debate about removing Confederate memorial resurfaces at Trinity CollegeA Trinity College student recently resurrected the debate about whether a Confederate memorial plaque should remain on campus, amid a broader push to reevaluate historical symbols.The plaque is attached to a Civil War era cannon on Trinity’s Hartford, Connecticut campus and honors alumni who fought on both sides of the Civil War.Installed in 1950, it commemorates “Trinity men who fought for the principles in which they believed with the Union and Confederate forces.” While the memorial has stood for more than 70 years, some students argue that it no longer belongs in a prominent campus space.A recent student op-ed in the Trinity Tripod called for the removal of the memorial. The op-ed was written by Savannah Brooks, editor-in-chief of the student newspaper and a history major.“The plaque still serves as a Confederate memorial on a Union cannon,” Brooks told The College Fix in a recent email.Brooks said the timing of the plaque’s installation is crucial to her argument. While reunification efforts following the Civil War were real, she believes they were most relevant in the late 19th century.“By the mid twentieth century, when the plaque was affixed to the cannon, the number of living Civil War participants was extremely small, and the last veteran would die within the decade,” she said. “The U.S. does not have a habit of honoring or memorializing those who attempted to destroy our country. Why should we make an exception for Confederates?”She also emphasized that Trinity today is a different institution than it was when the plaque was installed. Brooks pointed to the presence of black students, faculty, staff, and trustees whose families were directly impacted by slavery.“We live in a different era of Trinity,” she said. “Black Americans who have been directly impacted by slavery in their ancestral line are classmates, professors, friends, staff, parents, trustees.”She added that emotional responses to campus symbols should be part of the decision making process. “If I feel discomfort walking past the cannons, how would a prospective student feel? A prospective donor?”
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