Removal and Renaming of Statues
In 2017, UT Austin removed several confederate statues from their places of prominence on campus in the middle of the night. This action was part of a state of removals and renaming nationwide as several institutions grappled with the meaning and impact of these monuments. Years later, there are still ideological and legal battles surrounding the decision. The statue of Jefferson Davis in particular was returned to campus and mounted at the Briscoe Center in an exhibit titled “From Commemoration to Education.”
In this 3-page double-spaced essay, critically analyze the ethics associated with the removal of this site of public history given the state’s racial and gendered history. Be sure to make use of the ethics glossary provided in class lectures to discuss how the myriad of ways that decisions regarding the statue’s erection, removal, and repositioning could be justified with the presented frameworks.
