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Wiping out history. This is what the Soviet Union did under the communist regime. This is what the Islamist terrorists do. This is what all fascist authoritarians do with history that they don't happen to like or is "problematic" or inconvenient to their ideology.
They tear down the monuments and statues and rewrite the history books. We in America used to shake our collective heads over this and say, "Thank G od we live in the United States where that doesn't happen."
But now it's happening here. The desecration of monuments and the pulling down of the statues of our historic heroes and founding fathers, from Christopher Columbus, to Robert E. Lee, George Washington and even Abraham Lincoln is underway.
Calls for the removal of the Jefferson Memorial and Mount Rushmore are being taken seriously. Nancy Pelosi has ordered all portraits and statues of men who served in the Confederacy to be removed from the Capitol. Renaming streets, parks, and even towns and cities is being considered. Who will be the first to demand the renaming of Washington, D.C.?
Anything that has to do with the Confederacy is in the process of being removed.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney vowed last week that the Confederate statues on Monument Avenue would come down, including a statue of Robert E. Lee. Vandals took matters into their own hands and the statue of Jefferson Davis was pulled from its pedestal.
The day before that a mob used ropes and placed a sign on a statue of Christopher Columbus that read, "Columbus represents genocide" as the statue was spray-painted. Then it was finally toppled and the group lit it on fire and rolled it into a lake.
A statue of Christopher Columbus was decapitated in Boston with its head found nearby early Wednesday. The statue, which has been spray-painted and beheaded before, will be fully taken down by city officials and placed into storage as its future is determined, MayorÊMarty Walsh said.
On the night of June 18th a statue of George Washington was torn down by a group of people in Portland, Oregon. A U.S. flag was seen burning at the head of the statue before it was toppled using a rope.
Another U.S. flag was seen burning over the statue after it was toppled on the ground, according to video footage and images shared on social media. The statue was spray-painted with the words "genocidal colonist," and F--- the cops." Police were reported to be at the scene.
This thing is going on all over our country, from sea to shining sea. Shocking enough that this is happening in the United States of America. More shocking still that authorities appear to be allowing it to happen, and in many cases even supporting it. Beyond conservative pundits I don't hear much uproar over this.
Revisionist history has been going on in public schools for decades, either playing down the achievements of our founding fathers or eliminating them all together. Ignoring context, the books are written in a way that judges their intentions and actions not within their time in history, but within our politically correct, multiculturalistic modern era.
Students have been and continue to be taught that white men are inherently evil and work to suppress all other people in the world. Students are taught that white men have unfair "privilege" simply by virtue of being white. Is it any wonder that so many people under the age of, say forty, want to tear down all things that they perceive to be supporting the "white man?"
Rewriting our history includes the erasure of cultural icons and symbols. This week it was announced that the Aunt Jemima brand of pancake mix and syrup will be taken off the shelves for good. Same goes for Uncle Ben's rice. Needless to say any product that does not adhere to liberal politically correct guidelines will in all likelihood be pulled from the shelves. Lego has already announced it will no longer be promoting or marketing toy sets depicting police and fire fighters or it's White House set.
The makers of Mrs. Butterworth syrup have said they are redesigning the packaging of their product so it will no longer be in the shape of a woman. I guess some people find the bottles disrespectful to women. I'm surprised they still call it Mrs. Butterworth and not Ms. Butterworth. That will change too, you can bet, as soon as a few feminists complain about it on Twitter.
Television shows depicting police are getting cancelled. The long running show, "Cops" is finished as is "Live PD." Will there ever be another series on TV featuring police as main characters? Will they stop showing reruns of cop shows like "Law and Order?" It remains to be seen. Certainly if there are any social media complaints, those shows will be gone with the wind.
Speaking of which, the 1939 classic "Gone With the Wind" was set to be pulled from the HBO Max lineup, but due to some resistance from film fans it will remain, but with all sorts of disclaimers attached. It's ultimate future remains uncertain. Disney's "The Song of the South" was yanked out of circulation years ago and will never see the light of day again. My prediction is, eventually every single classic movie depicting what the "woke" people determine to be black stereotyping will be removed or reedited. Same goes for stereotyping of gays, women, and other aggrieved groups. Actually, it might just be easier for them to do away with all movies made before 1965.
That famous quote from George Orwell's novel "1984" is not only prophetic, given what is happening today it is chilling and sad. It reads:
"Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right."
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JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a letter to his congressman. He's been a JWR contributor since 1999.