Ohio city vows to take in unwanted statues amid calls to topple them
Calling itself a Statuary Sanctuary City, Newton Falls has promised to be a home for any statues of historical figures with legacies marred by racism or slavery.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFA sign reading "Hate Has No Home Here" hangs by the statue of Civil War Confederate General Robert E. Lee, ahead of the one year anniversary of 2017 Charlottesville "Unite the Right" protests, in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 10, 2018(photo credit: BRIAN SNYDER/REUTERS)
A small city in Ohio has decided to open itself for all statues and monuments of historical figures throughout the country that many seek to remove due to the problematic aspects of their legacies, local NBC affiliate WFMJ reported.David Lynch, city manager of Newton Falls, signed an official proclamation Saturday transforming the city into a Statuary Sanctuary City.This proclamation, uploaded in its entirety by WFMJ, officially declared “a general amnesty for George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Ulysses S. Grant, Patrick Henry, Francis Scott Key, Theodore Roosevelt and Christopher Columbus.”This decision comes amid widespread efforts across the US to remove statues of historical figures with problematic legacies, usually marred by slavery and racism. These statues have included several veterans of the Confederacy from the US Civil War, several US politicians such as president Theodore Roosevelt and of other historical figures such as Christopher Columbus.These efforts began following protests that sparked after the death of African-American man George Floyd in Minneapolis by police officers, leading to greater calls to crack down against white supremacy and racism, as well as to stop glorifying the legacy of such controversial figures.However, some have criticized this movement, believing that it is disrespectful to American history.“Whereas the great leaders of our country and Western civilization, though flawed in many ways, have risen to great achievement, such as the founding of our nation, the ending of slavery… and the discovery of the New World itself,” Lynch wrote in his proclamation.“Whereas these great leaders as represented by beautiful and artistic statuary throughout our nation deserve to stand in a place of honor and respect as a reminder that we as Americans can achieve great things.”
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