Taylor Swift wants monuments of “racist historical figures” to be removed in Tennessee.
Earlier this year, the pop singer showed fans her journey toward political awareness in the documentary Miss Americana, and now is moving with gusto toward the left. Her latest move was a series of tweets on Friday to advocate for the movement to take down statues of historical figures with pasts that are problematical by today’s standards.
Swift wrote: “As a Tennessean, it makes me sick that there are monuments standing in our state that celebrate racist historical figures who did evil things. Edward Carmack and Nathan Bedford Forrest were DESPICABLE figures in our state history and should be treated as such.”
“Taking down statues isn’t going to fix centuries of systemic oppression, violence and hatred that black people have had to endure but it might bring us one small step closer to making ALL Tennesseans and visitors to our state feel safe – not just the white ones,” she said, adding, “We need to retroactively change the status of people who perpetuated hideous patterns of racism from ‘heroes’ to ‘villains.’ And villains don’t deserve statues.”
Swift said she would ask the Capitol Commission and the Tennessee Historical Commission to “please consider the implications of how hurtful it would be to continue fighting for these monuments. When you fight to honor racists, you show black Tennesseans and all of their allies where you stand, and you continue this cycle of hurt. You can’t change history, but you can change this.”
Several Confederate monuments have been vandalized or torn down by demonstrators in the past few weeks. Government authorities have removed others.
Taylor Swift Calls For “Racist” Monuments In Tennessee To Be Removed
Taylor Swift wants monuments of “racist historical figures” to be removed in Tennessee.
Earlier this year, the pop singer showed fans her journey toward political awareness in the documentary Miss Americana, and now is moving with gusto toward the left. Her latest move was a series of tweets on Friday to advocate for the movement to take down statues of historical figures with pasts that are problematical by today’s standards.
Swift wrote: “As a Tennessean, it makes me sick that there are monuments standing in our state that celebrate racist historical figures who did evil things. Edward Carmack and Nathan Bedford Forrest were DESPICABLE figures in our state history and should be treated as such.”
“Taking down statues isn’t going to fix centuries of systemic oppression, violence and hatred that black people have had to endure but it might bring us one small step closer to making ALL Tennesseans and visitors to our state feel safe – not just the white ones,” she said, adding, “We need to retroactively change the status of people who perpetuated hideous patterns of racism from ‘heroes’ to ‘villains.’ And villains don’t deserve statues.”
Swift said she would ask the Capitol Commission and the Tennessee Historical Commission to “please consider the implications of how hurtful it would be to continue fighting for these monuments. When you fight to honor racists, you show black Tennesseans and all of their allies where you stand, and you continue this cycle of hurt. You can’t change history, but you can change this.”
Several Confederate monuments have been vandalized or torn down by demonstrators in the past few weeks. Government authorities have removed others.
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