No. I want statues to remind people of significant events, regardless of whether they reflect well or poorly on the person depicted by the statue.
Anyone who requires that kind of reminder is an idiot.
Anyone that requires a reminder that Lincoln was President during the Civil War is also an idiot.
Statues aren’t erected because we require reminders.
So every statue needs to have a plaque listing all of the signficant events of their lives.
That’s nonsensical.
If you want some statue about some other event, then make a statue about that event.
A statue is not intended to be a holistic and perfectly accurate historical record of that person’s existence.
So if we admit that no person is perfect, you then think every statue representing any “controversial” person should have a side plaque explaining the two sides of the individual or event depicted by the statue? Really? Who determines this? Some federal statue agency?
Should all the statues and monuments in Wash DC have counter arguments attached to them? All the statues in the Senate? How about all the exhibits at the Smithsonian?
Where would you stop with this?
I’m with @Timex on this one. I don’t need opposing viewpoints plaques on statues. Either put up the statue or don’t.
Historical monuments generally do have inscriptions that note the significant events associated with the person depicted. So it’s not a question of if there are historical notes, it’s a question of which historical notes. And I think they should be selected without regard to whether they glorify the subject. So I reject the suggestion that the plaque is inappropriate because it “shits” on Lincoln.
So would you put on every FDR statue that he put Japanese-Americans in internment camps?
If there is room to mention his accomplishments in WW2, then there is certainly room to mention the Japanese internment. That is absolutely something we must never forget.
The “every statue” argument is a strawman. One particular Lincoln statue is involved, in a place where the plaque would have particular relevance.
You could write volumes about FDR’s life… his accomplishments, failures, flaws, etc.
You don’t put them all onto a plaque for a statue.
Again, a statue is not intended to capture the entire existence of a human being.
There are innumerable things about Lincoln which have significance to that place. You can’t put them all on a plaque.
Mods please lock this thread, I’ve already submitted the final copy to the engravers for the statues of Magnet and Timex. I cannot risk new information invalidating the monument.
Does the statue look something like this?
I got dibs on being the guy on the left.
I never said you need to include every detail of someone’s life. I said that whether it reflects poorly on someone should have no bearing on the matter. And I said that any rational decision that FDRs WW2 accomplishments merit inclusion should also find that the internment does too.
Giant robot FDR needs a plaque.
Giant Robot FDR (GRFDR)'s hyperphasmic fusion pack was partially powered by hundreds of Chicksaw, Choctaw, and Cherokee souls illegally stolen from ancient Native American burial grounds along the Trail of Tears. GRFDR WAS A MONSTER