A
symbol only has power if you give it power. It will only mean what it
is if you want it to mean what you think it should mean.
To
some, the Confederate flag is a symbol of Southern heritage; to
others, it is the symbol of slavery and Jim Crow laws.
In
Chinese culture, the snake symbolizes intelligence, happiness
and auspiciousness;
in Western culture, a
snake is the epitome of evil and the Fall of Man from grace.
To
some, a monument to Confederate soldiers is a symbol of men who died
fighting for a cause; to others, the same monument is anathema.
The
NAZI swastika is probably the best example. The swastika is feared,
hated and loathed except by fringe groups. Yet the swastika is
considered a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
Portsmouth
City Council Member Mark Whitaker calls the Confederate monument at
Court and High Streets “a vestige of racism” and should be
removed.
It
is not a Confederate monument. It is a monument to the memories of
the soldiers who fought for the Confederate States of America, a
secessionist government, against soldiers of the United States in
America's Civil War. Mayor Kenny Wright, who increasingly seems to
lack independent thought and action, agreed with Whitaker.
But
the monument isn't owned by the city, but by a group whose ancestors
fought in the Civil War.
What
a dilemma.
Whitaker
et al want to make a statement, they are giving the monument, or
symbol, more power than it ever had. No one paid attention to it
until now, so now it has power. Whitaker
has given it power, the press has given it power, yet power for whom,
against whom and by whom?
The
group that owns the monument want to retain its power to awe, inspire
and remember. The group who wants it removed want to destroy that legacy and the power of that legacy.
What
the city – not Whitaker, Wright et al –- and others might get is
a lawsuit.
The
group who wants the monument to stay have threatened a lawsuit if the
monument is moved, destroyed, displaced.
Again,
power.
What
about the power of the cross of the crucifixion?
Before
the crucifixion of Jesus, the cross was seen as a gibbet, an upright
post with projecting arm from which the bodies of criminals were hung
in chains or irons after execution.
To
some, the cross is a symbol of Christian faith and redemption; to
others, the Saracens, it was seen as a symbol of murder.
A
symbol is lifeless until we imbue it with our own hatreds, fears,
courage, bravery and our ethnocentrism. Two pieces of wood,
essentially, have more power than the Pope or the President.
But
we created that power.
The
symbol is an extension of our own egos, of our own ego
centric view of the world and of what we want to see, not what we ever see.
So,
here are my recommendations for the monument:
1.
Decapitate them and send the heads to the two doctors and accountant
who like to “trophy” hunt.
2.
Buy one of Kenny Wright's vacant properties and relocate the monument
to that property.
3.
Tear it down, put up a statue of Jesus on the cross, weeping for all
of us.
Definition
of the word “Symbol.”
Something
that stands for, represents, or denotes something else (not by exact
resemblance, but by vague suggestion, or by some accidental or
conventional relation); esp. a material object representing or taken
to represent something immaterial or abstract, as a being, idea,
quality, or condition; a representative or typical figure, sign, or
token;
Source:
Oxford English Dictionary