Our history is too complex for just a monument

These are very challenging times we are living in, and they are a reminder that history is not something merely to be studied, but also lived.

Throughout history, statues are erected and statues are taken down. I feel and empathize with all my fellow New Mexicans and Americans on all sides — the anguish, anger and anxiety that is out there. I have people from all perspectives contacting me, telling me their opinions and expressing themselves. And I hear all of you.

It is important to study and learn about our ancestors: the good, the bad and the ugly. And for the good, be proud of them! But also remember, we are not them. We are us. And we are a community. A family of human beings living, loving, fighting, wrestling over issues and history.

If a historical symbol gives me pride but causes pain to my fellow New Mexicans, I need to think about that. More importantly, we need to talk about it. Too often, we resort to protests, which should be a last resort, not a first step. We need to talk about racism, about colonialism. And I don’t mean the cute and quaint images of colonists living in harmony with the land.

We need to talk honestly about colonialism and conquest. We need to acknowledge that being on the receiving end of conquest is painful, no matter if it is by Spaniards, the

British or American empires. It is a difficult conversation for us Hispano New Mexicans because we descend from both the conquerors and the conquered. So it is a conversation we must have with ourselves, which is not always easy.

And we need to try and see things from the perspective of others, of Black Americans looking at statues of slave owners, of Native people looking at statues of conquerors like Juan de Oñate or a National Forest named for Kit Carson, who brutalized and abused the Navajo people. All of us have complex and complicated histories that cannot be summed up in monuments or plaques. Our history is vibrant and alive and must be lived.

We are not museum pieces or relics. We are living humans. My hope is the statues that were the focus of so much tumult and pain will be housed somewhere so we can learn from them, not just about the past, but about who we are and why we are, to dialogue about them. And also, so we can learn how to proceed into the future with each other in harmony. It is a cliché to say “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.”

Well, now is the perfect opportunity to put that teaching into practice. I am a historian. Believe me, we don’t want to repeat it.