RE: OT: Goodbye Jackson, Ashby, Maury etc etc etc ...
This is a JMU board, so I’m going to keep this related to JMU. I have my own personal thoughts about statues, confederate flags and other types of topics, but this isn’t the place to debate those topics.
However, we have two issues that directly relate to JMU and I don’t think it’s a bad idea to civilly discuss their relevance to the university.
First, we have the Turner Ashby monument. I personally don’t see any issue with this being on campus. I view this as merely a marker of an incident of some historical significance. It reminds me of a tombstone more than anything else. It’s definitely not a statue. I think it’s appropriate because it doesn’t seem to elevate the man to epic proportions. The inscription is somewhat subdued as well. “Gen. Turner Ashby C.S.A. was killed on this spot, June 6, 1862, gallantly leading a charge.” I would be upset if this was removed from its current location. Removing this would feel like trying to erase history.
The second topic are the three buildings named after Confederate generals, and this issue is significantly more complicated.
Let’s first realize that it’s a tremendous honor to have a JMU building named after a person. Most of our buildings are named after people who dedicated portions their lives in some manner to our great university. These are favorite educators, university leaders and administrators, and significant donors. These people have strong and obvious connections to our university. I’m sure all of these people had their flaws, but that doesn’t erase their positive contributions to the university.
Then we come to Jackson, Maury, and Ashby. None of these men have a connection to JMU. None of these men were alive when JMU was founded. All of them were born hours away from JMU. The only connection I can find to JMU is related to Ashby, who was killed nearby (and there’s obviously a monument memorializing that fact). Because these men don’t have a connection to JMU or the nearby area, I don’t see a need to continue to honor them by naming some of JMU’s most beautiful buildings after them.
I think it’s important to remember who these men were. Although I’m sure they were loving family men and did some honorable things during their lives, their most significant contribution to history is that they fought AGAINST the United States. It’s hard to view them as anything but traitors against the USA. They put their lives on the line to protect the “southern way of life” and “states’ rights”, both of which are clever current day synonyms for protecting slavery. Fighting bloody battles against the United States in order to defend slavery should disqualify you for this honor.
It’s also critical to understand when these buildings received their names and the historical context. They were named at the height of Jim Crow, in a time when buildings and monuments were erected honoring confederates in order to continue to remind former slaves and their descendants who was still in charge of the south. I recommend spending some time studying Jim Crow if you’re not intimately familiar for more context.
Finally, I think it’s important to think about how these names might affect our current students. Asking an African American student to take classes in Jackson hall is not much different than asking a Jewish student to take classes in a building named after Himmler, Eichmann, Goebbels, or Goering. Let that one sink in for a minute.
That’s my two cents. I believe that we have two choices: JMU can sit back and accept the status quo, or it can “Be The Change”.
(This post was last modified: 08-25-2017 02:50 PM by chicagoduke.)
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