“Johnny Reb” statue belongs in museum.
Fortunately, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer has decided the Confederate memorial statue at Lake Eola Park must come down, but the decision to move and refurbish the monument raises as many issues as it resolves.
I question what the move to Greenwood Cemetery will do for the city at large. The statue will be out of sight for most, but not all. The Confederate cannon from the renamed Lee Middle School, now College Park Middle, has also been moved to the Greenwood Cemetery, but is this a solution that works for all Orlando residents? Are we essentially turning Orlando’s Greenwood Cemetery into a Confederacy memorial?
Secession from the union was an act of rebellion, not nationalism. The Confederacy is not, and has never been about love of country, but rather a love of an institution meant to breed ownership and economy of the privileged class. The statue’s creation as a memorial to those who fought for their country is false.
The symbolism of its original home is haunting. The statue, erected in 1911 and commissioned by the Annie Coleman chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, originally stood at the intersection of Central Avenue (now Boulevard) and Main Street (now Magnolia Avenue). The statue was moved to its current location in 1917, apparently because it was a traffic hazard.
Today, the statue must be moved again, but probably not to its final location. A more likely resting place would be a museum, one of the few places capable of providing a true historical context.
The Orange County Regional History Center, housed in the old courthouse that was once the statue’s neighbor, would be the right choice to give the sculpture and disassembled panels a permanent place, one where future generations could learn about the mistakes of our past.
Our educational institutions, including the University of Central Florida, Valencia College and Rollins College, could, if invited, provide ample bright minds to help address the statue. Our diverse city needs a diverse task force of academics and historians, people who care about our community, to determine the statue’s final home.
After the removal of a similar Confederate statue in New Orleans, some in Orlando have questioned whether the move and cleaning are worth the cost, estimated to be $120,000. While some may advocate for destroying the statue, destruction is equivalent to erasure. Artifacts of the Jim Crow era, from the late 1800s to the mid-1960s, show us the raw truth of the time. America’s past is uncomfortable to many, especially those who would rather forget Southerners once initiated a war with their own country to protect slavery. The cost to provide true historical context, while moving and maintaining a disgraceful part of our collective history, will teach and empower future generations.
I don’t want my children, or any children in this city, to be faced in 40 or 50 years with having this same conversation. A more thoughtful approach now will keep us from doubling the cost and controversy of moving the statue again later.