The war on America's founding fathers has reached Washington, D.C., where a committee reporting to D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser is recommending that the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial (among others) be removed, relocated, or contextualized.
The group used five criteria to determine whether a monument deserved the boot:
- Participation in slavery
- Involvement in systemic racism
- Support for oppression
- Involvement in supremacist agenda
- Violation of District human rights laws
This criteria led the committee to recommend renaming 21 public schools, nine residential buildings, 12 parks and playgrounds, and 7 government buildings.
It also recommended removing, relocating, or contextualizing monuments dedicated to Benjamin Franklin (who was an abolitionist), Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and George Mason (among others).
It is true that some of these men participated in slavery and other systems of oppression, of course. But those who love America understand that we don't celebrate any of these figures because they owned slaves -- we celebrate them because they helped found the greatest country on earth. They enshrined in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence the principles of freedom and equality under the law that would one day be used to ensure all Americans of every race could enjoy the benefits of the United States.
They also crafted the greatest legal document of all time. The Constitution outlined a federalist system that separated powers between the federal and state governments and between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal government.
It also provided the states a way to rectify problems in the federal government if the national government ever became too oppressive. As the video below explains, George Mason understood the states would need a way to propose constitutional amendments, and his suggestion was unanimously approved by the Founders:
It's time we used the tool the Founders gave us to restore the balance of power between the state and federal governments. Fifteen states have already called for a Convention of States, and 4.6 million Americans have voiced their support.
Join the Convention of States Project by signing the petition below!
