There are two Confederate obelisks or cenotaphs here in St. Augustine's public spaces.
One honors the memory of the poor East Florida Southerners who died for an idea -- young working men who did not own slaves and who died as cannon fodder for the corrupt Confederacy.
It is in the Plaza de la Constitucion, sharing the "sense of place" with the sometime "slave market," another obelisk- monument to the liberal 1812 Spanish Constitution (one of the only ones left in the world), and two (2) civil rights monuments -- one to Rev. Andrew Jackson Young (later our UN Ambassador) and one to the civil rights foot soldiers. How cool is that?
The first Confederate obelisk is on City property and removal would require permission of the St. Augustine Historic Architectural Review Board, which is unlikely to allow anyone to alter our history here in Our Nation's Oldest City.
The other Confederate obelisk or cenotaph marks the grave of a civil war general, William Loring. It is currently under the suzerainty of the University of Florida. Likewise, HARB approval would be required, and is highly unlikely.
What do you think? St. Augustine is all about the many layers of history here.
Healing matters.
In contrast to intentionally provocative monuments erected to promote white supremacy, these obelisks do not offend -- they have simplicity, elegancy, eloquence, authenticity and pathos.
Neither obelisk or cenotaph honors the KKK founder or murderer of African-American prisoners of war (Nathan Bedford Forrest), or glorifies mossback Confederate generals on horseback, or commemorate the disreputable author of the Dred Scott decision (Roger B. Taney), whose horrible ruling helped trigger the Civil War.
Thus, I've sent a letter to UF President W. Kent Fuchs, proposing renaming and rebranding, but not removal of the Confederate obelisks or cenotaphs:
-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Slavin
To: president
Sent: Fri, Aug 18, 2017 11:37 pm
Subject: Re: Request No. 2017-462: UF-administered Confederate monuments, including Loring Park in St. Augustine, Florida
Dear President Fuchs:
1. Rev. Ron Rawls has set a public meeting on this issue at St. Paul A.M.E. Church, 85 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. on Monday, August 21, 2017 at 6:30 PM.
2. Will you please direct your legal staff to provide all requested records by Noon on Monday, August 21? This will help inform discussion about the Confederate monument on UF-administered property.
3. To promote healing, peace, harmony, authenticity and historic preservation here, what might UF do? How about changing the name of "Loring Park" and rebranding it to promote healing?
4. Instead of subtraction, why not addition? Why not inclusion, acknowledging that there were victims on both sides in our Civil War? How about adding the name of one or two of St. Augustine's local civil rights heroes -- Stetson Kennedy and Barbara Vickers? Why not something like Loring-Kennedy-Vickers Park? (Like Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta.)
5. How about designating the park and fountain as a reflection garden, with suitable signage and exhibits developed by UF and Flagler College students and faculty?
6. Will UF also kindly consider the possibility of assisting St. Paul A.M.E Church and our City of St. Augustine with preservation of what's left of Echo House at 100 MLK (a traditional African-American community building, which will be demolished in 2018 if funds for restoration are not found)?
7. Thank you for correctly rejecting the application of Richard Spencer to speak at UF, and for UF's commitment to equality and academic freedom. We don't need any more bloodshed, as in UVA at Charlottesville last weekend.
8. President Fuchs, I viewed your Spring Commencement Address on YouTube and it was simply beautiful, promoting humility, respect and mutual understanding.
9. In that spirit, I look forward to UF helping continue the healing here in St. Augustine, as a just steward of our history and dozens of historic properties owned by the people of the State of Florida.
10. As President Lyndon Johnson said, before a joint session of Congress after Selma in 1965 -- and as we, the unified people of our Nation's Oldest City sang in victory at St. Paul A.M.E. on January 10, 2008 (after exposing and remedying illegal dumping of contaminated solid waste by our city government):
"We SHALL overcome!"
Thank you.
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
904-377-4998
-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Slavin <easlavin@aol.com>
To: amhass <amhass@ufl.edu>; poppell <poppell@ufl.edu>
Sent: Fri, Aug 18, 2017 12:20 pm
Subject: Request No. 2017-462: UF-administered Confederate monuments, including Loring Park in St. Augustine, Florida
Dear Ms. Hass and Mr. Poppell:
1. Please send me any inventory, history or other documents on all of the Confederate monuments on University of Florida administered property.
2. Please send me all documents concerning the proposed disposition of a lll Confederate monuments currently on UF-administered property, including but not limited to the obelisk or cenotaph in Loring Park in St. Augustine, Florida (which bears an image of the Confederate stars and bars flag) and any proposal for additional signage or sculptures, or re-designation of the adjoining water feature.
3. What are UF's plans concerning Loring Park? This is the place where unconstitutional, First Amendment violating "No Trespassing" signs were erected for a time in 2016 at the request of controversial St. Augustine City Attorney Isabelle Christine Lopez and disgraced UF then-General Counsel Jamie Keith. Please provide all documents on UF's vision for Loring Park.
Thank you.
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
904-377-4998
Here's a St. Augustine Record story and comments, some of which shed more heat than light, and one or two of which was ugly, stark and raw:
Posted August 18, 2017 05:27 pm - Updated August 18, 2017 06:00 pm
By
Discussion of St. Augustine’s Confederate monuments slated for Monday
The leader of a St. Augustine church has announced plans via social media to start a discussion with city officials about the presence of two Confederate monuments located in the city’s Plaza de la Constitucion.
Rev. Ron Rawls, pastor at St. Paul AME Church, said via an online post that the gathering will take place Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the church, 85 ML King Ave.
“I call upon the leadership of the City of St. Augustine to redefine this city and make an expeditious, but correct decision to no longer revere the shameful cause of these symbols by removing them from public spaces,” Rawls wrote in his social media post.
The Confederate monument on the east side of the plaza, the city’s main public space, honors men who died “serving the Confederate states.” A memorial with an image of the Confederate flag near the west end of the plaza honors Confederate Gen. William Loring and his service in the Civil War and other conflicts. His ashes are buried in the area.
The Monday meeting follows a week where cities in various parts of the United States have made efforts or announced intentions to remove Confederate monuments from public spaces. Those efforts follow a white nationalist rally that turned violent in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday that brought renewed attention to Confederate monuments around the country.
NOTE: Look for an expanded version of this story in Monday’s Record.
COMMENTS:
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I'll say it then. DUMB idea.
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Lisa Parrish Lloyd : Your comment below was not there when I posted my comment you're disappointed about. The beginning of the comments here are about this clergyman digging up our own monuments and possible recreating our own Charlottesville HERE. THAT is what is dumb! And I'm disappointed in you for not seeing that.
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Deane Newsome it's actually 'above'. The 'beginning of the comments here' do not reflect the fact that the confederacy was completely rooted in slavery. Our "own Charlottesville" is already here. I read comments online and see the hate. Are you ok with that? That people we know from high school live the flip side of what we call "our heritage"? If we don't objectively see how it hurts human being that live here, and we glorify a past that condones crimes against humanity - what does that say about us - as human beings..
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Like most people with not enough to do, let's jump on the band wagon to try and erase history. The war wasn't even about slavery when it started, as the Emancipation Proclaimation wasn't written or delivered until September 22nd of 1862, and to take effect January of 1863, at which time the war had been well under way. The war was partially about the difference in the economic systems between the north and the south which was interpeted as "states rights". The Democratic party was the party of the South at the time, which seceded from the Union. In other words, the liberals now wanting to remo...See More
So this reverend wants to follow all the other lemmings and the majority of the citizens will be ignored once again. Why aren't the people of the cities allowed to vote on these issues of national heritage? Why is the minority winning? Enough already!!!
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If they do that then we need to take all of mlk shit down to it's only fair
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That will take an army Tex. There's an MLK something in every one horse swill hole in America now.
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Learn from history, Not destroy history! I believe it is a crime that about 20% of angry, Ill informed, American hating groups should dictate and destroy what the majority wants to keep!
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This is the stupidest shot I've ever seen. Land of the free my ass. The govt doesn't want you knowing the N was overtaxing the South. And only 4% of people in the south owned slaves. George Washington owned slaves. I want him and Thomas Jeffersons monuments removed. And I don't think Martin Luther King belongs on any street or statue it also affends me because they are all offensive.
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If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out.
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The discussions I've read here and on FB focus on "heritage' so I am curious what that means to those who express it. The "heritage" of whom? To the descendants of human beings who were dragged here against their will and forced into servitude, and are still treated as inferior there is no question - that is a horrible period in our nation's history, and the images of that horror get shoved in their faces still, every day. I am southern and am usually proud of being so. But I am aware of the toll our 'southern history' placed on people who never asked to come here and continue to be treate...See More
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Instead if removing the monuments they should add statues that reflect both sides. It's situated at the slave market so keep the monument......add bronze life sized statues of men, women and children shackled together on a platform waiting for inspection from their potential owners. Birmingham Alabama did it in regards to the civil rights conflict http://birminghamal.org/places/kelly-ingram-park/ St Augustine's history is rich and varied....you can't acknowledge a sliver of it without seeing story behind it.
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The University of Florida administers Loring Park. Here's a letter I've drafted to UF President Kent Fuchs:
Dear President Fuchs:
1. Rev. Ron Rawls has set a public meeting on this issue at St. Paul A.M.E. Church, 85 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. on Monday, August 21, 2017 at 6:30 PM.
2. Will you please direct your legal staff to provide all requested records by Noon on Monday, August 21? This will help inform discussion about the Confederate monument on UF-administered property.
3. To promote healing, peace, harmony, authenticity and historic preservation here, what might UF do? How about changing the name of "Loring Park" and rebranding it to promote healing?
4. Instead of subtraction, why not addition? Why not inclusion, acknowledging that there were victims on both sides in our Civil War? How about adding the name of one or two of St. Augustine's local civil rights heroes -- Stetson Kennedy and Barbara Vickers? Why not something like Loring-Kennedy-Vickers Park? (Like Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta.)
5. How about designating the park and fountain as a reflection garden, with suitable signage and exhibits developed by UF and Flagler College students and faculty?
6. Will UF also kindly consider the possibility of assisting St. Paul A.M.E Church and our City of St. Augustine with preservation of what's left of Echo House at 100 MLK (a traditional African-American community building, which will be demolished in 2018 if funds for restoration are not found)?
7. Thank you for correctly rejecting the application of Richard Spencer to speak at UF, and for UF's commitment to equality and academic freedom. We don't need any more bloodshed, as in UVA at Charlottesville last weekend.
8. President Fuchs, I viewed your Spring Commencement Address on YouTube and it was simply beautiful, promoting humility, respect and mutual understanding.
9. In that spirit, I look forward to UF helping continue the healing here in St. Augustine, as a just steward of our history and dozens of historic properties owned by the people of the State of Florida.
10. As President Lyndon Johnson said before a joint session of Congress after Selma in 1965 -- and as we, the unified people of our Nation's Oldest City sang in victory at St. Paul A.M.E. on January 10, 2008 (after exposing and remedying illegal dumping of contaminated solid waste by our local city government):
"We SHALL overcome!"
Thank you.
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PLEASE STOP ERASING OUR HISTORY 
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Leve our confederate monument alone they have nothing to do with slavery read your history
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It is a dumb idea because it erases history and St. Augustine is known for it's history! What is the point of the St. Augustine four how do you explain their role in history without the civil war? How do you explain their contributions? You need ALL of the history so not doomed to repeat it!
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Maybe the kkk will take care of these assholes !! This reverend must be black !! He wouldn't like it if someone took down his church would he ???
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Terroristic threats violate TOS. Please cease and desist, Freddie Pate (Michigan resident, apparently).
I'm not sure that critical thinking still exists. It actually scares me not that people want a perceived racist past removed. Rather that they want history erased. History isn't pristine, glorious or often honorable. But, if you seek to remove the stain it has created then often what is left is a lie.
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Agreed. History must not be censored or made into propaganda. We must tell our history "warts and all," as Lincoln would say, and then we shalll "disenthrall ourselves."
A misguided former mayor once opined that we should only tell "positive history." I disagreed and I still disagree. There's no such thing as "positive history." That's City Hall rhetoric. Let truth be told, for "the truth shall set you free."
I was delighted when, in a landmark First Amendment case, Jensen v. City of St. Augustine, United States District Court Chief Judge Henry Lee Adams, Jr. judge ordered Rainbow flags to fly on our Bridge of Lions in honor of Gay Pride in 2005 (42 flags on BoL and seven along Bayfront) in honor of our 11,000 years GLBT history, Significantly, it includes the first anti-Gay hate crime in recorded North American history -- the 1566 murder of a Gay French translator of the Guale Indian language. St. Augustine founder Pedro Menendez de Aviles ordered Guillermo killed because he was a "Sodomite and a Lutheran" -- Menendez's brother-in-law wrote it down.
No one is calling for the tearing down of the statues for Pedro Menendez de Aviles and Juan Ponce de Leon. It's not going to happen, even though they were guilty of genocide of the Temucua and other Native American people.
St. Augustine lives somewhere between hope and history.
Our full history must and will be told with a St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore, first proposed by Mayor Walter Fraser, Senator Claude Pepper, et al. in 1939.
2 comments:
Thank you for a very balanced, constructive, article, that provides a positive alternative to all the devisive events happening around the Country.
Mark Tolzmann
Thank you, Mark!
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