(Credit: LaNier and AP Photo)
A descendant of President Thomas Jefferson wants his statues taken down as monuments to problematic figures have been removed, defaced and vandalized in recent weeks.
READ MORE: Charlottesville drops Thomas Jefferson birthday holiday to instead honor the enslaved
In May, George Floyd’s death led to nationwide protests over police brutality and renewed efforts to take down statues honoring Confederate idols.
(Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)
LaNier wrote in an op-ed for Newsweek that there should be no statues in honor of those who have hurt their ancestors “beyond repair” and that these public tributes honored a “slave master, a murderer, or a white supremacist.”
LaNier expressed that statues in dedication to Jefferson, Robert E. Lee, and Christopher Columbus were merely “symbols of hate, racism and slavery” and to honor these individuals and others was to validate their horrific actions.
READ MORE: Thomas Jefferson statue creates heated racial climate on Hofstra U. campus
LaNier believes museums are an appropriate place for the statues in order to provide historical context without the need for a public shrine.
