Protest or Censorship?

JFK and MLK statues
Stone, metal wood are inanimate objects incapable of emotions.  The purpose of art is to invoke emotion and of teaching history is to promote thought.  Art can be used to protest injustice or show a dream, but it can not  make those things  happen. Labeling art something other than the title given it by the artist shows a lack of knowledge and respect.  The only way to prevent wrongful labeling is to do research.  Research done right takes time and will calm emotions as historical facts and artist intentions are reveled.

"We need to move away from being offended by everything, of going through history and looking at everything, of renaming everything." - Ben Carson (video)

"Non-violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for the timid or weak... Non-violence is hard work." - Cesar Chavez

"We're not separate races. There's only one human race." - Alveda King (video)

"The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived and dishonest – but the myth – persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.” - John F Kennedy
  • Art (paintings, sculptures, sketches, etc), litterature, music and theatre offer freedom of expression to those who create it and education to those who view it.
  • Destroying art is a criminal act regardless of reason, while removing art because a few are offended by it is censorship that is killing freedom of speech through artistic expression.
  • History teaches us not what will be but what was, so we can choose not to repeat the bad and grow from the good.
  • Using taxpayer dollars to pay for change/removal activities without allowing citizens to vote on it is misappropriation of funds.
  • Acting rashly for perceived political gain and may become the beginning of government corruption.
"Doing what you want to do is easy. Doing what you have to do is hard." - Larry Elder  (video)

"The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls."- Elizabeth Cady Stanton

“I am convinced that even violent temperaments can be channeled through nonviolent discipline, if they can act constructively and express through an effective channel their very legitimate anger.”- Martin Luther King Jr.

“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” - Winston Churchill

Communism and Nazism used violence and targeting specific groups to control people and gain their place in history,  Then history proved both to be bad for all people under their hold. Historical examples of statue and art removal include the communist dictator Stalin in Russia and Nazi dictator Hitler in Germany Dictators effectively use propaganda and false news reports to spread lies and hate to gain followers and use unrest as an excuse for military take-over.  Destroying or hiding historical figures because the color of their skin or their ethnicity is different from those screaming out promotes continued  on every side.  Pandering for  political gain is not only the wrong motive, it is often a wrong move for sake of a nation. 

“Some things are believed because they are demonstrably true, but many other things are believed simply because they have been asserted repeatedly and repetition has been accepted as a substitute for evidence.”  - Thomas Sowell

"Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding." – Mahatma Gandhi

"Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater." - George Washington Carver

"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong."  - Abraham Lincoln

Who is really behind these new agendas: hiding/rewriting historical truths, destroying art that has been around for decades or centuries, and claiming current wrong toward a particular group or religion without physical proof?  Local citizens, tax payers, violent criminals, demographers/statisticians, hidden terrorist, unscrupulous politicians, marketing ploy, paid/faux activists, or someone else stirring the hate or paying for conflict?  Who is sponsoring this - who is really hiding behind some of those masks? Why is a small, loud group the reason money is being spent to remove statues, memorials, and monuments, as well as the names of streets, parks, and buildings?  Who is asking these questions?  Who is checking on and reporting the facts?  Why is everyone afraid to really talk about this?  Why are words being censored, but not unlawful or unethical actions?