Get rid of racist statues

In regard to the continuing discussion over racist and totalitarian statues at the old court building in Lexington that the art project at the 21c Hotel Museum has made the people aware of and hopefully ashamed:

Perhaps we are today too far removed from the system that these evil men in these statues represented. The war was a living hell. These statues were put up because whites were terrified of the freed blacks and their new rights under the Constitution to own guns.

These statues let blacks know not to go too far and to keep them working in the fields for their former owners out in the country in places like Jonestown, Bracktown and Frogtown. The argument that this is an important history lesson or a subject for a cool art project can be a mere intellectualization that sidesteps the basic fact that these statues do more harm than good and must be removed as soon as possible.

What harm? For one, recruiting basketball players to come and play at the University of Kentucky. People come here and say, what is this nonsense? Let us not psychologically punish black children anymore. Better to melt down the statues and put up a statue of Boone or Lincoln if you need history. I’m an artist.

This story was originally published August 19, 2016 at 6:41 PM with the headline "Get rid of racist statues."