Standing for truth at the memorial obelisk?

I was blessed to meet Dr. Thomas Chavez, a renowned historian, at our Santa Fe Hispanic Chamber of Commerce event. He shared with me a short history of the obelisk. Erected by the citizens of Santa Fe after the Civil War, the monument was dedicated to the union soldiers who fought in the Civil War, especially those who fought in New Mexico and those soldiers who risked their lives fighting what the obelisk’s inscription described as “savage” Indians. The word “savage” was chiseled out in 1974.

The word did not (then), nor ever refer to Pueblo Indians, who were in fact raided by other Indians, as were the non-Indian communities. What is lost in all the emotion is that a majority of the U.S. soldiers who protected those communities, including the Pueblos, and fought against those marauding Natives were “Buffalo Soldiers” who were African American men.

This loss of knowledge has made an ironic circle with the destruction of the obelisk. Last year’s movement to take down monuments was borne out of the Black Lives Matter movement. That trend came to Santa Fe and Albuquerque in the form of the obelisk, along with other denigration and the destruction of the Oñate statue in Duke City. Little did the local activists know that they actually destroyed a monument to Black soldiers who risked, and in some cases lost, their lives protecting white settlers, along with anyone else who chose to live a sedentary life in the Territory of New Mexico.

This monument was dedicated as a memorial to those men that died on the battlefield to protect New Mexico and its citizens. I believe that studying culture differences inevitably leads to an examination of history. Studying the past allows us to understand both our present and future.

Knowing our history and culture should help us decide how to live in peace and harmony. We must also stand up for truth and justice.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

DORIS VIGIL MCBRIDE

SANTA FE