#Repost @andradaymusic (@get_repost) ・・・ My neighborhood has made the change. My younger brother and sister attended Robert E Lee Elementary school down the street from where we grew up. The sad irony of my black siblings being educated in a place that honored a domestic terrorist who fought to keep people like them enslaved as a war hero didn't truly hit home until my later teenage years. Even more galvanizing was the discovery that these memorials litter our country, and our very Capitol has more confederate statues in the National Statuary Hall collection than of black leaders in the entire Capitol. Now I love learning about history but monuments and memorials are more than just a history lesson. They honor specific men and women, their efforts, and what they stood for. It is the reason we learn about Adolf Hitler in textbooks but don't build statues in his honor. Imagine being Jewish and having to walk past a giant statue of Hitler everyday on your way to class or work, or home. That is exactly what it's like for people of color looking at confederate monuments. The subtle psychological and emotional impact of having to look at your oppressor on a pedestal everyday is immeasurable. It was/is also intentional. A lot of these schools were named and statues erected during segregation and Jim Crow. It wasn't an innocent preservation of history, it was intimidation and the preservation of these ideals. These changes to our landscape are definitely long overdue but it is never too late and I'm proud of my hometown. As of last year Robert E Lee is now Pacific View Leadership Elementary school. Thank you @lorenasgonzalez for leading the charge on this. You are a wonder woman and show what the true Love of God looks like for all people. Fear and hate will not win. 1 John 4:18 1 John 2:9 #charlottesville #stopusingHisNametospewignoranceandhate #southeastdaygo #southeastdago
