toss out his beautiful words (and guideline for living) in his "I Have A Dream" speech

Already done. Color of skin means everything. Judging by content of character is racist.

Wow dee nile, you have managed to explained the whole problem in one short revelation. Society is fast doing a complete 180 degree turn. If you are of a certain skin color you are "good" no matter what you do. If you are not of that color you are "bad," or a racist, homophobic, nazi sympathizer, no matter what you have accomplished or how much character you have.

The words with malice towards none, and charity for all are well written prose, but flies in the face of getevenism and I want mine, screw you all tribalism.

Oh, and MLK Jr was a dirty Republican and a gun owner!

Even a "plaque" would not help. For two reasons:

One: How can one reduce the history of one person onto a small plaque?

Two: If some folks didn't bother learning about so and so in school; why on earth would they bother reading a plaque?

Beginning to resemble Mao’s cultural revolution in China, and I am sure the goals are the same.

...I am sure the goals are the same. ~ Isab at April 14, 2018 7:11 AM

They are.

It's straight out of the "So You Want To Overthrow Society" handbook.

1. Delegitimize the existing order's past in order to legitimize the revolution
   
2. Call into question the foundational beliefs underpinning the existing order to destabilize it
   
3. Sow chaos and confusion in the streets to undermine the existing regime's ability to maintain peace and order
   
4. Ensure a ready supply of domestic enemies to focus societal anger and be blamed for any failures - use a "sell out" myth if necessary
   

Every revolution in history has followed these same tactics: the French Revolution, the Fascists in Italy, the Nazis in Germany, the Falangists in Spain, the Peronists, the Cuban Revolution, the Russian Revolution, and Mao's various upheavals; even the American Revolution followed this formula.

The amazing thing about the American Revolution is that people who instigated it voluntarily gave up the power they could have easily seized once the fighting was over. Not only that, but when their first attempt at creating a federal government failed miserably, they drafted the US Constitution, devolving power from the government to the governed.

Who's clean enough to have a statue in the public square?

The answer: Probably nobody.

Nope. Nobody.

Public statues should be generic and express an ideology, not specific and honor a person. Let the Fearless Girl statue be your guide.

Who's clean enough to have a statue in the public square?

The argument over statuary reminds me of a religious debate.

Early Christianity was riven with disputes over iconography. Statues, idols, etc.

The Commandment warned against false idols, but converting the heathens accustomed to idols required a physical focus for their worship.

Western Christianity evolved to allow statues of saints, the Virgin Mary, etc. Eastern Orthodox Christianity evolved to allow only tile mosaics, no statuary. Islam follows that model, no statues (graven images) allowed; Allah is everywhere, not in a statue.

The Catholic Crucifix has an image of a suffering Jesus on it. Most Protestant denominations felt even that violated the "no graven images" commandment and went with a simple cross.

I was against the confederate statue thing, people asked me if I was against the tearing down of Saddham and yeah I was against that too, and I think it sucks that the statues of Hatchepsut were destroyed.

Because it isn't just about "honoring" people, it is about preserving a moment in time.

...people who instigated it voluntarily gave up the power they could have easily seized once the fighting was over. ~ Conan the Grammarian at April 14, 2018 7:43 AM

On second thought, perhaps not "easily seized."

The seizure of power by a cabal at the end of the American Revolution was made more difficult by firearms and experience using them held by the public at large, a lesson not lost on our Founding Fathers - despite the fact that any of them with military experience knew that a militia, well-regulated or not, was not worth even half its number in trained professional soldiers.

At the end of the French Revolution, the French peasantry was still not well- or widely-armed. Same with the Russian Revolution and the Russian peasantry. Likewise with the English Civil War. Those revolutions were accomplished violently by seizing centralized power - e.g., the King's palace, the Czar's palace, the legislature.

The power centers in the American colonies and the states under the Articles of Confederation were widely dispersed, thus a single stroke could not decapitate the country.

Blockers:

In 1975, the name controversy reemerged when the State of Alaska petitioned the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (USBGN) to change the name of the mountain to Denali officially. Unfortunately for Alaskans, the Ohio congressional delegation (representing former-President McKinley’s home state) blocked their efforts for the next four decades.

The original group of convicted indians was something like 400 and Lincoln cut the number hanged down to 38. I would call that mercy. No one ever has been perfect, and those who were close are now reviled by the Left for being religious (those Saints you know).

Blockers:

In 1975, the name controversy reemerged when the State of Alaska petitioned the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (USBGN) to change the name of the mountain to Denali officially. Unfortunately for Alaskans, the Ohio congressional delegation (representing former-President McKinley’s home state) blocked their efforts for the next four decades.
JD at April 14, 2018 3:09 PM

And in another hundred years, no one will give a flying fuck. Anyone remember what the Tibetans or the Chinese call Everest? And does anyone really care?

"He also personally signed off on the hanging of 38 Dakota Indian men convicted of being involved in an uprising in Minnesota. Should we topple statues of Lincoln because of that?"

There are people who want to do just that, yes!

"The amazing thing about the American Revolution is that people who instigated it voluntarily gave up the power they could have easily seized once the fighting was over."

See Thomas Flexner's "The Indispensable Man" to see how George Washington saved the country from a military coup...

Speaking as a POC I feel oppression and fear when I have to pass by place with G. Washington the criminals name on it. He was murderer of Native Folks, war monger, war criminal, womyn opreser, drug whysky maker and pusher and slave owner. All the name places and statutes of Washington need to be gone as apology to all the folks and their ancestors who Washington opresed.

"Speaking as a POC I feel oppression and fear when I have to pass by place with G. Washington the criminals name on it."

You do yourself and everyone else you identify with no favors: not one.

The entire reason you have a representative voice in America today is that man's integrity - and all you've done here is signal ignorance and virtue simultaneously.

I am certain that you know nothing whatsoever of the actual lives of native peoples, who routinely made war on other tribes to seize land and women - who they took for slaves. In fact, they acted just like tribes in Africa today. If you want an index of who is successful on this Earth, look around with some effort and notice that their common bond is occupation by the British.

If you seek excuses for not succeeding in the USA today... look in the mirror. Outside of your home, there are millions of people just like you who lead prosperous lives absent the poison you've ingested - for the problem is you, not George Washington.