Editorial

Revisiting history

Posted 7/2/20

If a grandiose dream of Gerry Sanchez had come to fruition some two decades ago, a 300-foot statue of Christopher Columbus would be greeting the barges that enter the Hudson Highlands channel north …

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Editorial

Revisiting history

Posted

If a grandiose dream of Gerry Sanchez had come to fruition some two decades ago, a 300-foot statue of Christopher Columbus would be greeting the barges that enter the Hudson Highlands channel north of West Point.

That was the dream of Sanchez, who presided over the monthly meetings of the Newburgh Developer’s Association, as a tribute to the Italian explorer credited for discovering the new world in 1492. Sanchez  had to settle for a modest structure atop a pedestal in UNICO park at the Newburgh Waterfront. (For the record, the largest Columbus statue is a 360-foot bronze sculpture, “The Birth of the New World” and is located along the Atlantic coastline of Arecibo, Puerto Rico.)

Recent events have us rethinking our monuments, statues and who we choose to honor in general. There has been a renewed call in recent weeks to eradicate reminders of a history that we might rather forget. Columbus, whose treatment of the indigenous peoples he encountered upon his arrival in the Western Hemisphere has been called into question, is one of the historical figures we have been prompted to reconsider. So, too, are various Civil War-era figures and symbols of the Confederacy as well as others whose legacy has been clouded by accusations of racism.

Former Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt are now also included in that list as well. Princeton University is removing the name of Wilson, who also served as the university’s president from one of its buildings, while the Museum of Natural History is seeking removal of a statue of the Rough Rider. Both are now believed to have harbored racist views in their day.

Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY18) recently wrote to the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of Defense requesting removal of any symbols honoring Confederate officers at West Point. Robert E. Lee, who would command Confederate Army forces during the Civil War is among the U.S. MIlitary Academy’s most distinguished graduates, and a former West Point Superintendent. There is an entrance gate at the Academy that bears his name and an exhibit at the West Point museum that displays some of his belongings, including an Army jacket. Nowhere though, is it mentioned that he raised his sword against the Union Army at the end of his career.

We can remove statues and the names of those once revered from their pedestals and from the places where they once lived and served, but we cannot change the past. And we cannot erase a history that includes some of our founding fathers as slaveholders. Those who contributed to our collective history whether they be presidents, generals or scientists, were not perfect. They were as flawed as the rest of us. We can learn from their mistakes as well as their accomplishments. And we can learn more from our past by not trying to erase it.