As the Statues Fall: An (Abridged) Conversation about Monuments and the Power of Memory

Abstract

In the wake of the global civil unrest following the brutal killings of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Tony McDade, Atatiana Jefferson, Aura Rosser, Elijah McClain, and so many others at the hands of police in the United States, #BlackLivesMatter protesters and their allies have critiqued the anti-Black racism imbued in the erection and maintenance of Confederate historical monuments. The legacy of social movements seeking to remove Confederate statues is long-standing. However, unlike in previous moments, what began as the forced removal of Confederate statues during protests has rippled to the removal of colonialist, imperialist, and enslaver monuments all over the world. In this webinar, scholars and artists shared their insights on the power of monumentality and the work they are doing to reconfigure historical markers. In the midst of this most recent turmoil, the Society of Black Archaeologists, in collaboration with the Wenner-Gren Foundation and SAPIENS and the Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies, hosted a panel discussion between scholars, activists, artists, and public historians titled “As the Statues Fall: A Conversation about Monuments and the Power of Memory.” This piece provides a look into that conversation and its highlights.