Confederate Statues

Taken Down

 
 
 

Vocabulary

kidnap	inferior	as long as
fair (2)	judge (2)	monument
statue	standard	destruction
honor	get rid of	memorial
slavery	preserve	Confederate
decree	capture	fight/fought/fought
free (2)	order (3)	enslavement
union	target (2)	announcement
remove	across (2)	at gunpoint
own	civil war	people of color
destroy	superior	reconsider
sign (3)	executive	executive order
Union	prosecute	persecute
		confederate

 

 

Video

 

Transcript

Statues across the US are being destroyed.

Male Protester, One: “We have to get rid of every racist monument in this country.”

Female Counter Protester, Two: “I don’t think it’s fair to judge people on today’s standards.”

Which statues are being targeted?

More than one-thousand-seven-hundred (1,700) memorials honor Confederates who fought to preserve slavery in the Civil War.

Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy

Davis decreed the enslavement of “all free Negroes in the Southern Confederacy.”

He also ordered African America Union soldiers who were captured to be returned to slavery.

Memorials: 145 Removed: 25

Richmond, Virginia: Erected: 1907 . . . Removed: 2020

Lexington, Kentucky: Erected: 1936 . . . Removed: 2020

Robert E. Lee, Confederate General

Lee’s army kidnapped free Black people in the North at gunpoint.

He owned two-hundred (200) slaves.

Memorials: 222 . . . Removed: 36

Richmond, Virginia: Removal announced: 2020

Statues showing people of color as inferior are reconsidered.

New York, New York

Washington, DC

Trump signed an executive order to prosecute statue destruction.

Donald Trump, US President: “They’re looking at Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson. Not going to happen. Not going to happen — not as long as I’m here.”

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

 

Questions

1. In the video report, more and more statues are being erected in honor of great American men and women. True or false?

2. Why are many statues being taken down?

3. “I don’t think it’s fair to judge people on today’s standards.” What does this mean? Does everyone agree with the removal of statues?

4. What was the Confederacy? Who were the Confederates?

5. In the US, there are only a few statues and plaques that honor Confederate leaders. Is this right or wrong? What has been happening to some of them?

6. The controversy over the statues only concerns slavery. Is this correct or incorrect?

7. Who were some of the people presented in the video? Why are they vilified?

 

A. There are numerous statues of historical people in my city and country. Yes or no? Who are they? What did they do?

B. Have there been controversies over statues of historical individuals?

C. Some statues have been defaced, moved or torn down. True or false?

D. What might happen in the future?

E. What should people and governments do regarding statues?