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| Some are saying having a bridge carry the name Philip D. Beall Sr.(pictured above) is simply unacceptable. So who will be the area's monument police that will use today's standards to tear down monuments and rip down memorial designations from men that lived 50, 100, 150, 200, or 300 years ago? Will we demand all local memorials, roadway designations, statues and monuments to President Andrew Jackson also be abolished? |
Who will be our area's "monument police?"
As we work through the initiative that some citizens have been pushing to take the Philip D Beall designation from the bridge that bears his name in Pensacola--some have even stooped to the lowest of levels and started to attack the man's character (and by implication, his family's good name) as an added reason to take the designation from him and his family.
They are asking the legislature to submit a bill to remove the Beall name from the bridge and add a different name.
This is very unfortunate.
Philip D. Beall Sr. was a State Senator that did many great things for our area. His son, Philip D. Beall, Jr., also served in the Florida Senate for 16 years after he returned from service in WW II. He also did many great things for our area as well. He had a brother that served in WWII in the Pacific Theater. This brother, Kirke Monroe Beall, went on to serve as a local Circuit Court Judge. He did many great things for our area as well.
From the 1930s through the 1960s and beyond--this family gave a lot to our area.
But according to some that want to see a new name on the replacement bridge that currently honors the Beall family's Patriarch--the name MUST change because in the opinion of this small minority of folks--"Beall was a racist." To me this is disgusting and insulting and ignores historical realities that cannot be downplayed.
The impetus for this negative characterization being heaped upon Senator Beall apparently stems from legislation that was sponsored in the Florida Legislature in 1935 and adopted unanimously and signed into law by the Governor that sought to control and solidify Democratic control over areas of the state by disallowing Republican voters (primarily Black voters at this time in our history) from voting in primary elections.
This was wrong, no doubt. Under today's standards it would not be tolerated and anyone that tried such tactics would rightly be imprisoned. But a thorough examination of the context illustrates that this was a party-politics issue--not a blatantly, exclusively racist issue. But let me be clear: our historic treatment of minorities in the South was abhorrent. It was abysmal. I wasn't alive until 1968 and if I was alive then--I would not have supported it! This said--it was the way things were at that particular time. Our history is ugly.
But nope, we apparently cannot look at it that way. Nope, it was racism! and so now, suddenly, after all these years, the Beall's are no longer "worthy" of the memorial designation on the bridge. Nope, some self-anointed "monument police" have spoken. They have decreed that this is no longer tenable. The name must be changed NOW because this man was, according to these accusers, a bigot!
But wait just a minute. Who is it among all men that is without any fault? Who? Answer: none of us. Only God is without fault.
So who will be the area's monument police that will use today's standards to tear down monuments and rip down memorial designations from men that lived 50, 100, 150, or 200 years ago? Will we
demand all local memorials, roadway designations, statues and monuments to President Andrew Jackson be abolished? After all, even though he was a beloved figure in history, a former governor of the Florida territory and our nation's 7th President---he and his son owned hundreds of slaves in his lifetime at his properties in Tennessee and Mississippi-- and he ordered the forcible removal of the Cherokee Indians from the southeast to Oklahoma--and thousands of Native Americans died as a result. What will the monument police say about "Old Hickory?" Will these monument police immediately forego the use of the U.S. $20 Dollar Bill that features Andrew Jackson?
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| Andrew Jackson owned slaves and mistreated Native Americans in his lifetime. Will the same self-anointed "monument police" that are demanding Senator Beall's memorial be taken away demand all of the local memorials to President Jackson come down as well? |
Or---
Will he be exempted from the demands for monument and memorial removals by the same monument police that want Philip D. Beall's name removed from the Bridge that carries his name?
If so, why? And if not, why not?
I want to understand the distinctions. Is it based upon position of power achieved? Notoriety? Or is it based upon the severity of the injustices purportedly committed upon minorities? I want to know and I only ask because if we are giving Jackson a pass, but not Beall, this is illogical and hypocritical. Jackson did far, far, worse to Indians and Blacks than did most anyone--he did way worse by orders of magnitude than did Florida State Senate President Philip D. Beall Sr.
Will the monument police have different standards based upon different historical periods, and-if so- who among the monument police will set such standards? I'm very interested in this.
Next let's talk about Don Tristan De Luna, Sen. Robert Byrd, Presidents Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. I want to hear what the monument police have to say about all the monuments, hundreds of them around the nation, to all of these historic men who each had their own unique historical issues with race and unequal treatment of races--and/or worse.
I would like a cogent, reasoned response from the monument police on this question: --do we have to tear down all remnants of any memorial or monument to any prominent historical figures if there is any speck of racial issues with such a figure's history--regardless of the implications of the particular period in history in which such historic figures lived? Is that what the monument police want?
This is an incredibly steep and slippery slope and it is a very dangerous thing to do, tearing down monuments, statues, memorials, and family legacies.
For my part, I won't partake.
I know all too well that we are all flawed, none of us is perfect, history is exactly what it was (not what we want to redefine it to be) and if we start down this path it does not end well.
11 comments:
Thank you, sir. That was very well stated. I was near graduating high school in 1968 and I remember the times in question in great detail. It is sad that there are a few that want to erase our history so that nobody learns both the good as well as the bad from it. You simply can not wipe out the past by pretending it never happened.
I don’t think that you have to keep taking us down this slippery slope, Commissioner. Anyone of intelligence “gets it”. We can’t judge our forefathers against modern standards. An eighth grader with internet access could outscore Benjamin Franklin on a science test, but it is clear to all that Franklin was one of the great scientific minds of his day. We walk the paths of those who blazed the trail.
Suffice it to say that you respect our forefathers and our past commitments. You are known to be a leader who strives for unity, shared goals, and a positive vision of Escambia County’s future.
I trust that you can find an agreeable compromise that the entire community can support.
Walk away from Claubaugh and Stricklen. Aka Herbert and Cosson. They are engaged in psychological techniques designed to inflame.
Maybe some in this don't see what the Belall family is going through. They are calling them whitesupremist and racist because they find a bit of legislature he sponsored for democratic primary in the 1930. I don't know maybe every body just needs to go ahead and say of course the polititions didn't want illiterate poor people in a few short years representing them in Washington DC.. Duh..So I guess that may in part be based on race. But affirmative action, the Black Caucus and the NAACP is based on Race? Call a spade a spade.
The black agenda of victim and white guilt is to pass legislation for reparations.
Get over it., it was 150 years ago the slaves were free. You don't deserve any more participation trophies. Or special treatment.
The ones screaming racist look like idiots. Ignore an idiot.
Well written with an ability to focus at a higher overall view. Insight without hate and bias.
He had his time. It's a new bridge and deserves a new name. Why must we continually be reminded of racists from the past, yet expect people of color to forget the past?
I got bogged down in doing a post on this very thing. A family name in Southern culture is everything. Anyone that's ever taken a history class on the collegiate level SHOULD have heard the phrase, "you can't look at history through today's eyes." The context of the time and place contribute so much that it cannot be judged accurately by what we now know. This is common sense. Derek Cosson posting a headline about Beall's attempt to block black voters on Facebook is libelous.
Southern culture has always dictated that you have a duty to your community and family. In that, everything you do reflects back on both. When so many family's had nothing of a legacy but their "good name", it became a moral obligation to live up to an unspoken level of honor for the legacy of the family. A blight, like calling someone a white supremacist disparages everything else done by the family. These things historically led to duels because of the lasting effects of such slander. There is virtually no person of historical significance who wouldn't be labeled one way or another by today's standards.
As someone who personally carries a family name, as I named after my father, I know my name should uphold the honor of his name. Andrew Jackson said it best, "The murderer only takes the life of the parent and leaves his character as a goodly heritage to his children, whilst the slanderer takes away his goodly reputation and leaves him a living monument to his children's disgrace."
We ought to all be mindful of the historical significance of honor and family names.
There are many many many heroes from our local area that will never have a building, Monument or Bridge named after them. Considering that I don't see why the bridge has to continue to be named after the same person after 50 years. For as wonderful as the Beall family may be, I think it's time for another hero to have his turn. Especially since the other gentleman whose name is being lobbied to have on the bridge has 20 some other public structures named after him.
I agree with mr. Bergosh that removing standing historical monuments like Confederate memorials or the Jefferson Memorial is wrong. An obsolete decaying bridge that is being replaced and will be torn down does not fall in the historical Memorial category
My husband would get chased down by blacks and he learned to run fast to escape in the 1950s because he went to the Ritz theater to watch Tarzen movies. It was segregated. He is white and native american. He also sat in the balcony because he could save a dime at the Saenger. He looks mostly white and blacks didnt like him sitting in the balcony but he did it anyway.,People don't understand segregation WAS the law. It was illegal to marry between the races. Racism and prejudice can and does go both ways. Yes the blacks has a fountain and so did the whites. The Democratic party was the ones who passed those primary exclusion and now the Democratic party is still using racism to push an agenda. I think there is a democratic agenda to stir stuff up and call white racists if they don't want to put up things that fits the divisive democrat agenda. The blacks are very organized and are using the government in their favor and THAT is the definition of racism. Passing laws to favor one race is wrong and that is what needs to be addressed. Anywhere you look you will find a name in the past associated with that..the past. Corry Field family ..from Quincy ..connect the dots. Next someone will want to rename Whiting Field Blacking Field. We need to outlaw Affirmation action and do away with the Democratic Black Caucus in Congress. Judge by content of chacater not color of skin. Beall name should stay but the Loudest voices will probably take it down. Yes the southern gov at that time was unapologist segregationist thought it appropriate and Gods will. Birds of a feather like to flock together. Open your eyes you can see of still.
To Jimmy Staley So true, We moved back to the area into my Grandparents old home.,They would both be 100 years old about now. We won't mow the grass on Sunday in case anybody they know rides by and sees us. I knows that's ridiculous. Well said in your post. Many of the lessons they held dear still ring true, So much richness to them and I can feel them permeate my soul, I think because of the blessing of being sheltered by the same walls and roofs that that embraced them. They were also staunch segregationalist at the time but were never unkind nor disrespectful. I would not consider them to be racist. I would be heartbroken if anyone attempted to discredit them and our family name. They were well respected and loving, hard working and resourceful but I can look back and understand that they had a particular worldview and I respect that. I feel no shame at all.
Detail on the primary. It was the Democratic Party that had the whites only primary. For a while the law was supportive because the party was considered a private NOT a government organization for a while. The segregation was a separate law from the late 1800. It was the law to be separate but equal.,Beall didn't make that law just upheld the the Democratic party could make its on rules and segregation was the law of the land.,Common thought was the races couldn't coexist--everybody knew that --type of mentality.So all this ordeal about integration was a fairly foreign concept when first pushed. People don't get that.
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