'As the American Museum of Natural History prepares to remove the equestrian statue of former President Theodore Roosevelt, dueling interpretations of the legacy of the nation's 26th president stir admiration as well as contempt.'
'This contradiction in values, according to military historian David Silbey, points to Americans' complicated…
'As the American Museum of Natural History prepares to remove the equestrian statue of former President Theodore Roosevelt, dueling interpretations of the legacy of the nation's 26th president stir admiration as well as contempt.'
'This contradiction in values, according to military historian David Silbey, points to Americans' complicated history regarding race.'
“I think both Theodore Roosevelts are true,” said Silbey, a professor at Cornell. “I think that he was
certainly the kind of progressive politician of the early 20th century who started moving the United States forward on environmental and other issues. But he was also the racist who viewed other peoples around the world as distinctly inferior to Americans.”
“Race is really America’s original sin,” he told NBC News, “And our whole history is really suffused with a perspective about race that shapes what we do and how we are thinking. And that contradiction is always at the forefront of what is going on.”
'On June 21, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the museum asked to remove the imposing 10-foot bronze statue in front of the building because it “depicts Blacks and Indigenous people as subjugated and racially inferior.”
'Critics of the statue say this monument represents a racial hierarchy that favors whites over other races.'
'Pressure to remove the monument resurfaced when nationwide protests calling for racial justice broke out in May after the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer; he has since been charged with murder.'
'On May 23, two days before Floyd's death, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo praised Roosevelt as a symbol of New York toughness—someone who found strength in unity and inclusivity. But on June 5, a man on a bike threw paint at the statue.'
'While the museum stated that the way Blacks and indigenous people are depicted by Roosevelt's statue is "racist" to many, including them, they announced that they will name their Hall of Biodiversity after Roosevelt, in recognition of his commitment to conservation.'
'Racism, 'Rough Riders' and the Spanish-American War'
'Historians say that Roosevelt’s ideas about progress and attitudes on race can be traced back to the mainstream culture of manifest destiny in 19th century America. This popular belief defended the idea that American settlers, who were primarily white, had the right and duty to expand their territory across the North American continent from the founding 13 colonies to California.'
'In 1845, journalist John O’Sullivan described an “army of Anglo-Saxon emigration” pouring into California with ploughs and rifles, and marking the territory with schools, colleges, courts, and meeting places. He would coin in that same article the term “manifest destiny” to defend the occupation of two other territories—Texas and Oregon.'
'Roosevelt would similarly champion these early trailblazers as the ultimate conquerors who shaped America’s frontier character.'
“Thus the thirteen colonies, at the outset of their struggle for independence, saw themselves surrounded north, south, and west, by lands where the rulers and the ruled were of different races, but where rulers and ruled alike were hostile to the new people that was destined in the end to master them all,” Roosevelt wrote in his book, “The Winning of the West: From the Alleghenies to the Mississippi."
'Silbey says that Roosevelt and other U.S. elites later applied that white settler perspective of manifest destiny to defend America’s interests as a global power—as they sought to control the Caribbean and other parts of the world. The Cornell professor sees in the Spanish-American War of 1898 an example of the politics and racial attitudes that would influence U.S. policy.'
“The Spanish-American War is really the U.S. stepping out on a global stage for the first time, and trying to figure out what to do as a global power,” Silbey said. “But the other part of this is that it brings with it all of its domestic attitudes about race and other people, and it starts to view other powers through this racial lens.”
'Roosevelt and Black veterans'
'When it came to Blacks who served with Roosevelt in the Spanish-American War, “not only was Roosevelt unenthusiastic about their participation, but he also was not going to try to get the American public to think of African American soldiers as being heroic,” Silbey said.'
'Historians have pointed out that Black soldiers from the 10th Cavalry beat out Roosevelt’s famous Rough Riders volunteer cavalry to the top of one of the major hills in the Battle of San Juan. That wasn’t a story that Roosevelt wanted to tell, Silbey says. In fact, Roosevelt describes a white-dominant hierarchy that underplays the accomplishments of black soldiers.'
“No troops could have behaved better than the colored soldiers had behaved so far; but they are, of course peculiarly dependent upon their white officers,” Roosevelt wrote in his war memoir “Rough Riders.”
'And when those white officers had been wounded, killed in action, or gone missing, he noted how black soldiers could not withstand the pressure of war.'
“None of the white regulars or Rough Riders showed the slightest sign of weakening; but under the strain the colored infantrymen (who had none of their officers) began to get a little uneasy and to drift to the rear, either helping wounded men, or saying that they wished to find their own regiments,” Roosevelt wrote. He said he had to draw his revolver to stop black soldiers from retreating.'
'Over a century after Roosevelt published his Rough Riders memoir in 1899, his great-grandson, Mark Roosevelt, recently told viewers in a CBS interview that he agreed with the museum's decision.'
“If we wish to live in harmony and equality with people of other races, we should not maintain paternalistic statues that depict Native Americans and African Americans in subordinate roles,” he said. “The statue of Theodore Roosevelt, my great-grandfather, in front of New York's Museum of Natural History, does so, and it is good that it is being taken down.”
'As Americans debate the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and other historical figures, Silbey said that the country needs to address the footprint of racism on our past. This begins by understanding the ways different people connect with our history.'
“One of the perils of being a historian is that there aren’t any good people in history,” he said. “But I think, like with all historic figures, who Roosevelt is depends on who you are, and how he fit you into his world view.” (NBCNews) See link below.
Are you suggesting we ignore TR’s significance in defending labor and challenging the Robber Barons? Are you suggesting that we don’t face similar challenges, the rise of a self aggrandizing and self appointed oligarchy determined to rule the country for their benefit alone?
Perhaps we need to be reminded of the contradictions which compromise and complicate our history. Writing out those contradictions and complications from the public square whitewash that history as much as erasing lynching and the leveling of Tulsa.
Please read my initial comment. In no post did I suggest shrinking TR accomplishments. Are you suggesting that we ignore his racism? I found your post to me offensive.
PS Excerpts and a link to the article I posted was a report about differing views concerning a statue of TR in front of The Museum of Natural History. The reporter covered opposing opinions about TR and how they reflect the contradictions and complications within our society. My posts in no way suggested 'whitewashing' our history, and there was no basis for you to imply that I have a blinkered vision of our country's history, of TR or that I recommended such on this thread.
Did I recommend removing the statue, Ken Taylor? I posted an article about it because it provided various views about the statue itself and TR. It was his grandson who thought it sensible to remove the statue. You have a determination to impute positions to me, for which there is no evidence. I suggest that you reflect on this about yourself. Unfortunately my effort to communicate with you has not been successful. Salud.
'As the American Museum of Natural History prepares to remove the equestrian statue of former President Theodore Roosevelt, dueling interpretations of the legacy of the nation's 26th president stir admiration as well as contempt.'
'This contradiction in values, according to military historian David Silbey, points to Americans' complicated history regarding race.'
“I think both Theodore Roosevelts are true,” said Silbey, a professor at Cornell. “I think that he was
certainly the kind of progressive politician of the early 20th century who started moving the United States forward on environmental and other issues. But he was also the racist who viewed other peoples around the world as distinctly inferior to Americans.”
“Race is really America’s original sin,” he told NBC News, “And our whole history is really suffused with a perspective about race that shapes what we do and how we are thinking. And that contradiction is always at the forefront of what is going on.”
'On June 21, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the museum asked to remove the imposing 10-foot bronze statue in front of the building because it “depicts Blacks and Indigenous people as subjugated and racially inferior.”
'Critics of the statue say this monument represents a racial hierarchy that favors whites over other races.'
'Pressure to remove the monument resurfaced when nationwide protests calling for racial justice broke out in May after the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer; he has since been charged with murder.'
'On May 23, two days before Floyd's death, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo praised Roosevelt as a symbol of New York toughness—someone who found strength in unity and inclusivity. But on June 5, a man on a bike threw paint at the statue.'
'While the museum stated that the way Blacks and indigenous people are depicted by Roosevelt's statue is "racist" to many, including them, they announced that they will name their Hall of Biodiversity after Roosevelt, in recognition of his commitment to conservation.'
'Racism, 'Rough Riders' and the Spanish-American War'
'Historians say that Roosevelt’s ideas about progress and attitudes on race can be traced back to the mainstream culture of manifest destiny in 19th century America. This popular belief defended the idea that American settlers, who were primarily white, had the right and duty to expand their territory across the North American continent from the founding 13 colonies to California.'
'In 1845, journalist John O’Sullivan described an “army of Anglo-Saxon emigration” pouring into California with ploughs and rifles, and marking the territory with schools, colleges, courts, and meeting places. He would coin in that same article the term “manifest destiny” to defend the occupation of two other territories—Texas and Oregon.'
'Roosevelt would similarly champion these early trailblazers as the ultimate conquerors who shaped America’s frontier character.'
“Thus the thirteen colonies, at the outset of their struggle for independence, saw themselves surrounded north, south, and west, by lands where the rulers and the ruled were of different races, but where rulers and ruled alike were hostile to the new people that was destined in the end to master them all,” Roosevelt wrote in his book, “The Winning of the West: From the Alleghenies to the Mississippi."
'Silbey says that Roosevelt and other U.S. elites later applied that white settler perspective of manifest destiny to defend America’s interests as a global power—as they sought to control the Caribbean and other parts of the world. The Cornell professor sees in the Spanish-American War of 1898 an example of the politics and racial attitudes that would influence U.S. policy.'
“The Spanish-American War is really the U.S. stepping out on a global stage for the first time, and trying to figure out what to do as a global power,” Silbey said. “But the other part of this is that it brings with it all of its domestic attitudes about race and other people, and it starts to view other powers through this racial lens.”
'Roosevelt and Black veterans'
'When it came to Blacks who served with Roosevelt in the Spanish-American War, “not only was Roosevelt unenthusiastic about their participation, but he also was not going to try to get the American public to think of African American soldiers as being heroic,” Silbey said.'
'Historians have pointed out that Black soldiers from the 10th Cavalry beat out Roosevelt’s famous Rough Riders volunteer cavalry to the top of one of the major hills in the Battle of San Juan. That wasn’t a story that Roosevelt wanted to tell, Silbey says. In fact, Roosevelt describes a white-dominant hierarchy that underplays the accomplishments of black soldiers.'
“No troops could have behaved better than the colored soldiers had behaved so far; but they are, of course peculiarly dependent upon their white officers,” Roosevelt wrote in his war memoir “Rough Riders.”
'And when those white officers had been wounded, killed in action, or gone missing, he noted how black soldiers could not withstand the pressure of war.'
“None of the white regulars or Rough Riders showed the slightest sign of weakening; but under the strain the colored infantrymen (who had none of their officers) began to get a little uneasy and to drift to the rear, either helping wounded men, or saying that they wished to find their own regiments,” Roosevelt wrote. He said he had to draw his revolver to stop black soldiers from retreating.'
'Over a century after Roosevelt published his Rough Riders memoir in 1899, his great-grandson, Mark Roosevelt, recently told viewers in a CBS interview that he agreed with the museum's decision.'
“If we wish to live in harmony and equality with people of other races, we should not maintain paternalistic statues that depict Native Americans and African Americans in subordinate roles,” he said. “The statue of Theodore Roosevelt, my great-grandfather, in front of New York's Museum of Natural History, does so, and it is good that it is being taken down.”
'As Americans debate the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and other historical figures, Silbey said that the country needs to address the footprint of racism on our past. This begins by understanding the ways different people connect with our history.'
“One of the perils of being a historian is that there aren’t any good people in history,” he said. “But I think, like with all historic figures, who Roosevelt is depends on who you are, and how he fit you into his world view.” (NBCNews) See link below.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/teddy-roosevelt-s-racist-progressive-legacy-historian-says-part-monument-n1234163
Are you suggesting we ignore TR’s significance in defending labor and challenging the Robber Barons? Are you suggesting that we don’t face similar challenges, the rise of a self aggrandizing and self appointed oligarchy determined to rule the country for their benefit alone?
Perhaps we need to be reminded of the contradictions which compromise and complicate our history. Writing out those contradictions and complications from the public square whitewash that history as much as erasing lynching and the leveling of Tulsa.
Please read my initial comment. In no post did I suggest shrinking TR accomplishments. Are you suggesting that we ignore his racism? I found your post to me offensive.
PS Excerpts and a link to the article I posted was a report about differing views concerning a statue of TR in front of The Museum of Natural History. The reporter covered opposing opinions about TR and how they reflect the contradictions and complications within our society. My posts in no way suggested 'whitewashing' our history, and there was no basis for you to imply that I have a blinkered vision of our country's history, of TR or that I recommended such on this thread.
Understand that I too have issues with TR. But, removing a statue is not what I consider to be a productive way of dealing with those issues.
TR’s statue is not an equivalent to the “Confederate Monuments “ that were raised in the 50s and 60s.
Did I recommend removing the statue, Ken Taylor? I posted an article about it because it provided various views about the statue itself and TR. It was his grandson who thought it sensible to remove the statue. You have a determination to impute positions to me, for which there is no evidence. I suggest that you reflect on this about yourself. Unfortunately my effort to communicate with you has not been successful. Salud.
Funny, I was thinking the same thing.
I'm amused as well. If you must have the last word, Ken Taylor, be my guest!