Duke Removes Robert E. Lee Statue

[NewApp]

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/duke-r ... /595121293

Duke University released a statement Saturday morning that said the school removed the Robert E. Lee statue from its chapel entrance.

This comes days after the statue was one of many vandalized around the nation after the Charlottesville protests.

[Past Coverage: Statue of Robert E. Lee defaced at Duke University]

The Duke University president, Vincent E. Price, sent the following statement to the students:

To the Duke community,

After hearing from and consulting with a number of students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and with the strong support of the Board of Trustees, I authorized the removal of the statue of Robert E. Lee from the entrance of Duke Chapel early this morning.

I took this course of action to protect Duke Chapel, to ensure the vital safety of students and community members who worship there, and above all to express the deep and abiding values of our university.

The removal also presents an opportunity for us to learn and heal. The statue will be preserved so that students can study Duke’s complex past and take part in a more inclusive future.

Wednesday night’s act of vandalism made clear that the turmoil and turbulence of recent months do not stop at Duke’s gates. We have a responsibility to come together as a community to determine how we can respond to this unrest in a way that demonstrates our firm commitment to justice, not discrimination; to civil protest, not violence; to authentic dialogue, not rhetoric; and to empathy, not hatred.

As part of this effort, I am creating a commission, to include faculty, students, staff, alumni, trustees and members of the Durham community, to advise on next steps and to assist us in navigating the role of memory and history at Duke. The commission will look at how we memorialize individuals on the Duke campus in buildings and sculpture and recommend principles drawn from Duke’s core values to guide us when questions arise. I will ask this commission to work expeditiously.

[NoLongerLurking]

God I hope Yosef doesn't offend people. He kinda looks civil war-ish.

[S.Lewis15]

Wonder when they're going to change the name of the university because their namesake fought for the Confederacy?

[asu66]

Wonder when they're going to change the name of the university because their namesake fought for the Confederacy?

In addition to that, Washington Duke (the above-mentioned namesake) is interred at Duke Chapel along with two of his sons. Why do I think all of that Duke family foundation $$$,$$$,$$$,$$$ will influence the university president, faculty, students and anarchists to simply overlook this little fact?

[appstate77]

Being a Methodist institution, Duke is trying to find a middle ground between two views. I admire their attempt to honor Confederate soldiers and at the same time set aside the residual effect of racism and violence.
As a Christian minister who has served Methodist, Southern Baptist and now Cooperative Baptist churches I hope Duke succeeds.

[S.Lewis15]

Wonder when they're going to change the name of the university because their namesake fought for the Confederacy?

In addition to that, Washington Duke (the above-mentioned namesake) is interred at Duke Chapel along with two of his sons. Why do I think all of that Duke family foundation $$$,$$$,$$$,$$$ will influence the university president, faculty, students and anarchists to simply overlook this little fact?

Not to mention he built his entire fortune on the "evil tobacco industry."

[1ASU78]

I don't think there is very much Methodism left at Duke. And I'm a life long Methodist.

Maybe they could put Traveler there instead.

[ASU3432Mi]

My mother and Aunt are both Duke grads. They are sick about the direction their Alma mater has chosen in the last decade.

[asu66]

Being a Methodist institution, Duke is trying to find a middle ground between two views. I admire their attempt to honor Confederate soldiers and at the same time set aside the residual effect of racism and violence.

As a Christian minister who has served Methodist, Southern Baptist and now Cooperative Baptist churches I hope Duke succeeds.

I understand your delicate professional/pastoral situation and have neither a question about it nor a purpose to dishonor it or you in any way.

I still, however, have a question about the Duke president's attempt to walk a "morals" tight-rope high above the greater Duke nation w/o falling off. There seems to always be a double-standard when the so-called "elite" make moral decisions. So the president wishes "to honor Confederate soldiers" and then draw a line in the sand. Was Lee not a Confederate soldier? Somehow he didn't make the president's "honor Confederate soldiers" cut. That's a hair-splitting double-standard! PC remains alive and well at Duke.

[Yosef10]

I just don't understand the infatuation with wanting to keep statues of traitors to the United States erected on land occupied by schools, and county & state courthouses; other than to keep the implicit meaning of said statues alive and well. I personally think statues of any men are a bit unwarranted, as did Thomas Jefferson. If you want to know about history, no statues needed, just open a book.

But that's it for talking politics.

[appstate77]

Being a Methodist institution, Duke is trying to find a middle ground between two views. I admire their attempt to honor Confederate soldiers and at the same time set aside the residual effect of racism and violence.

As a Christian minister who has served Methodist, Southern Baptist and now Cooperative Baptist churches I hope Duke succeeds.

I understand your delicate professional/pastoral situation and have neither a question about it nor a purpose to dishonor it or you in any way.

I still, however, have a question about the Duke president's attempt to walk a "morals" tight-rope high above the greater Duke nation w/o falling off. There seems to always be a double-standard when the so-called "elite" make moral decisions. So the president wishes "to honor Confederate soldiers" and then draw a line in the sand. Was Lee not a Confederate soldier? Somehow he didn't make the president's "honor Confederate soldiers" cut. That's a hair-splitting double-standard! PC remains alive and well at Duke. [/quote

We shall to agree to disagree.

[asu66]

Being a Methodist institution, Duke is trying to find a middle ground between two views. I admire their attempt to honor Confederate soldiers and at the same time set aside the residual effect of racism and violence.

As a Christian minister who has served Methodist, Southern Baptist and now Cooperative Baptist churches I hope Duke succeeds.

I understand your delicate professional/pastoral situation and have neither a question about it nor a purpose to dishonor it or you in any way.

I still, however, have a question about the Duke president's attempt to walk a "morals" tight-rope high above the greater Duke nation w/o falling off. There seems to always be a double-standard when the so-called "elite" make moral decisions. So the president wishes "to honor Confederate soldiers" and then draw a line in the sand. Was Lee not a Confederate soldier? Somehow he didn't make the president's "honor Confederate soldiers" cut. That's a hair-splitting double-standard! PC remains alive and well at Duke. [/quote

We shall to agree to disagree.

Fair enough.

[T-Dog]

Texas is removing all four of their Confederate statues right now. What UT does carries a lot of weight so I'll expect other schools to follow suit.

The "but they're a part of history" argument doesn't cut it with me. It would be akin to putting a statues of British war commanders on the East Coast to commemorate the Revolutionary War and/pr War of 1812. And many Confederate statues were put up in response to the Civil Rights movements.

Put them in a museum if someone wants to learn about the Civil War.

[Boone Goon]

This is such a delicate topic that I've hesitated to comment anywhere on it. Ultimately these statues will come down, but I wonder would we be better off putting more contextually accurate markers at each monument instead of removing them from view? The hole in the argument that they don't represent hate is the timing of when they were erected; many during the civil rights movement. It's the same flaw in South Carolina's claim about the Confederate Battle Flag.

T-dog, I grew up in Greensboro, there are statues/monuments from the Revolutionary War in honor of Cornwallis and other British soldiers. Guilford county has countless streets and communities named after the British. The monuments include context of their role and demise.

For now, I'm just glad Daniel Boone passed away before the Civil War.

[NewApp]

This is such a delicate topic that I've hesitated to comment anywhere on it. Ultimately these statues will come down, but I wonder would we be better off putting more contextually accurate markers at each monument instead of removing them from view? The hole in the argument that they don't represent hate is the timing of when they were erected; many during the civil rights movement. It's the same flaw in South Carolina's claim about the Confederate Battle Flag.

T-dog, I grew up in Greensboro, there are statues/monuments from the Revolutionary War in honor of Cornwallis and other British soldiers. Guilford county has countless streets and communities named after the British. The monuments include context of their role and demise.

For now, I'm just glad Daniel Boone passed away before the Civil War.

Good one, BG. I'm glad also.

[bcoach]

This whole statue issue is a load of crap. The removal of any statue will have zero affect on what someone has in their heart. TRUTHFUL conversation is the only answer and statues don't talk.

[Rekdiver]

This whole statue issue is a load of crap. The removal of any statue will have zero affect on what someone has in their heart. TRUTHFUL conversation is the only answer and statues don't talk.

True but if you are a Michigan fan you might not like seeing a statue of Armanti...or having a statue of Irk Russell in Boone.........
Put the statues in a museum......

[NattyBumppo'sRevenge]

The groups protesting the removal of the statue in Charlottesville, the white supremacists, neo-nazis, KKK , and the alt-right, tell me all I know to know about what these statues stand for. Like the previous posters stated, put them in a museum, one with other participation trophies.

[bcoach]

I really don't care what they do with them, that is not my point. My point is that tearing them down just makes it harder to have any meaningful conversation in order to solve our problems. There are an awful lot of very good people who are offended by this. The hate groups are a very tiny percentage of our population. When the statues are all down it will have done nothing to open up dialog. Thousands of people will sit back and say screw it. The real winners will be the a$$____ hate groups. It is a short term feel good for some people. Please understand that I really don't care about the statues themselves I just worry about this method of removal.
As far as AE I love the guy but I don't even want his statue in Boone. I can think of a lot better ways to spend money than statues of athletes.(:

[NoLongerLurking]

The statue of Doc Watson is perfection.