‘Yes, they had warts but they laid the foundation for what we have today…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) An Ohio town offered to take unwanted statues of historical figures from other cities this week, declaring itself a “statuary sanctuary city.”
In a proclamation last week, Newton Falls, Ohio declared “general amnesty” for statues of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Ulysses S. Grant, Patrick Henry, Francis Scott Key, Theodore Roosevelt and Christopher Columbus—statues that have each been targeted by radical activists across the country.
“The great leaders of our country and Western civilization, though flawed in many ways, have risen to great achievement such as the founding of our nation, the ending of slavery, establishment and protection of our national parks, the establishment of antitrust laws to protect our citizens from overaggressive monopolization of industry, and the discovery of the New World itself,” the proclamation reads, according to WFMJ-21, a local news outlet.
To pay respect to these figures, Newton Falls is “volunteering to accept these statues of these great leaders and volunteering to accept these statues that have been removed throughout the USA and place them in a location of honor in our community.”
The city’s manager, David Lynch, said Newton Falls wants to lead by example and encourage other Americans to “embrace the great leaders.”
“Yes, they had warts but they laid the foundation for what we have today,” he said.
Lynch’s argument is very different from much of the Left, which has argued that statues honoring the memory of historical figures are symbols of “oppression” and “racism.”
A statue of Abraham Lincoln on the University of Wisconsin’s campus, for example, was derided by a group of students who claimed Lincoln wasn’t “pro-Black.”
The school, however, defended the statue and the “totality” of Lincoln’s tenure.
“Like those of all presidents, Lincoln’s legacy is complex and contains actions which, 150 years later, appear flawed,” said the school’s chancellor, Becky Blank.
“However, when the totality of his tenure is considered, Lincoln is widely acknowledged as one of our greatest presidents, having issued the Emancipation Proclamation, persuaded Congress to adopt the 13th Amendment ending slavery and preserved the Union during the Civil War,” she added.
