CHANGE MALLORY SQUARE’S NAME?

Tearing down Confederate statues, renaming military bases, etc. first met me with mixed emotions. My initial thought was all are a part of U.S. history. History that should be acknowledged and remembered.

The more thought I gave to the issue, the more I leaned towards tearing them down, etc.

A primary motivation was Hitler. No matter what he did, he was a part of Germany’s history. No German today would even think about the association. Hitler was a bad guy!

So too were the Confederate officials, etc.

Another item that swung my thinking was the “Cornerstone Speech.”

The Confederate Vice-President was Alexander Stephens. He was addressing a crowd in Savannah, Georgia. He stated in his speech: “Our new government’s foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man.”

Everything comes down, everything renamed, etc, or nothing at all. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander thing.

Which brings me to Key West’s own Stephen R. Mallory (1812-1873).

Mallory was the Democratic Senator representing Florida in the U.S. Senate from 1850 to the beginning of the Civil War. He followed Florida out of the Union when the Confederate States of America was formed.

Mallory was made Secretary of the Navy under Confederate President Jefferson Davis. He resigned near the War’s end.

Mallory was caught by Union forces and imprisoned. After one year, he was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson.

Mallory returned to Key West.

Mallory Square is named after him. His bust and a tribute can be found in the Memorial Sculpture Garden at the Square.

Under present thinking, Mallory Square should be renamed. Mallory’s bust and tribute removed from the Memorial Sculpture Garden.

Key West should be consistent with what is happening through out America.

I have a feeling many will say it should not be done…..Mallory Square is famous world wide, part and parcel of Key West.

We cannot have it both ways. Everything goes, everything gets renamed.

Life has taught me a bigot generally does not know he is a bigot. He believes he is the fountain of goodness. Not aware his every action destroys another.

Yes, a bigot is not aware.

I am suggesting Trump does not know he is a bigot. He sincerely believes what he says. Especially when he tells the American people  he has done more for the blacks than any previous President.

A few days ago, Trump was in Dallas for a Justice Round Table.

The discussion was part of a Dallas County program. Dallas County is the second most populous County in Texas. The eighth most populous in the U.S.

Dallas County’s three top police officials are black. They were not invited to the meeting.

A Rodney Dangerfield quote comes into play here: “I remember the time I was kidnapped and they sent a piece of my finger to my father. He said he wanted more proof.”

Remember when Obama was running for President the first time. Whether he was born in the United States became an issue. Trump not even a candidate at the time.

Trump pushed the issue. When the State of Hawaii sent a photocopy of Obama’s birth certificate, Trump was not satisfied. He said, “It isn’t the original.” He kept the fire going.

At the time, I thought Trump was an ass. I was wrong. He was a bigot.

Appears Sears may be leaving Key West. No official announcement as yet. It is expected this weekend.

Key West is one of the locations that will close. Sears similarly closed a large number several years ago. Key West escaped the ax then. Looks like it will not this time.

I’ve been on the phone this morning with friends who are out and about. Some had coronavirus and survived. Believe they are immune. Others sick of being in said screw it, enough is enough, and are going out.

All carefully, however.

All walked Duval last night. All said the bars were where the problems existed. Mostly young people. Inside and out. No masks, no social distancing. Hugging and kissing.

Two interesting coronavirus updates.

The first involves semen. A fluid. China has concluded a small study.

“Small particles” were found in the semen studied. Study not sufficient to say unequivocally the virus can or cannot be transferred via sex. Further study required.

WHO issued a report re a mother’s breast milk. The study was sufficient for WHO to advise it was safe to feed a baby the mother’s breast milk.

Only “fragments” were found in some cases. However none were “live viruses.”

WHO further added that any danger to the infant was far outweighed by the benefit a baby receives from a mother’s breast milk.

Enjoy your day!

 

29 comments on “CHANGE MALLORY SQUARE’S NAME?

  1. I’m not sure your “everything or nothing at all” stance on Civil War monuments is defensible. Taken to its logical conclusion, anyone or any monument that supported slavery should be “torn down.”

    For example, should we tear up the constitution because most of the “Founding Fathers” were slave owners at one time or another? Or should we rid ourselves of every vestige of three Presidents who were slave owners? And by that logic, we should remove Washington from the dollar bill, along with Jackson ($20), Jefferson ($2), and Franklin ($100) from our money.

    And let’s not forget that ole “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” Patric Henry was a slave owner.

    It goes on. By the “all or nothing logic,” we should tear down the Washington monument.

    I could go on, but perhaps I’ve made my point. I think calmer heads should prevail. Common sense needs to find it’s way back into our lives.

    • Well said. I agree.
      Once we start this re-naming and tearing down, where does it end? What shall we do, for instance, with the Confederate Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery? And what of the thousands of Confederate soldiers buried there? Should they be re-buried elsewhere and the memorial destroyed?

        • Also, well said. I believe that anyone who has fought against the United States, or is convicted of committing treasonous crimes against the Untied States should NOT be allowed to be buried in any of our national cemeteries, nor should any effort to exalt or commemorate them with statutes or any other kind of physical method, be allowed anywhere. However that does not mean that they should be eliminated from any history or literature, just not praised. Nor should the confederate flag be allowed anywhere for any reason, apart maybe for museum reasons.

          Can you imagine a building or monument in Washington or anywhere else named after Benedict Arnold? Or perhaps someplace called “Fort Bin Laden”?

          This is not a slavery issue, this is a matter of patriotism, issue.

          • Agreed. At least as a policy going forward. But for historical purposes I believe Arlington should be left alone. It has its own dark side, The land itself came from a treasonous source if you count Robert E Lee as a traitor. Lee and his wife Mary Custis Lee built a family estate on the property, and lived there until it was seized by Union forces and used to bury the dead from both sides.
            There are fascinating stories about who is buried there. They weren’t all patriots. But the important point is that Arlington is hallowed ground and everyone who was accepted for burial there In the past deserves our respect.

            • Wrong again, Mary was kin to George Washington and grew up there. Lee obtained house and land by marriage. Damn does anyone know history.

    • The statement on Germany is false. Germany sends it school kids to the death camps, to all the still remaining buildings of Hitler’s 3rd Reich, so get your facts right before running your mouth.

  2. Renaming Mallory Square is one of those tough ones. I think this idea of changing everything needs to be taken on a one to one basis. Let’s consider two things. Was that person a bad guy and / or, was that person a traitor to the United States. If either of those apply, then I think that person should be a candidate for removal. Perhaps the deciding factor is if his/her remembrance is in anyway offensive to anyone.

  3. I agree this re-naming history should be a hard call. Lets we forget the bad parts of history and repeat them. I would rather she contextual signs and monuments placed explaining the situation and the hopeful new future.

    I mean if we are going to dismantle all slavery from human history we need to dismantle to Egyptian Pyramids and the Roman Coliseum. Heck, the Aztecs and Mayans all held slaves. Almost every ancient society held slaves in some fashion. Serfdom in Europe was basically slavery and the Irish of which I am a tribe member were treated worse than dogs in our own land by the English.

    Perhaps a better track would be to view slavery as universally bads, including economic slavery of low wages and no health care, and address that issue finally and for good. Perhaps stop worrying about the past and dealing with the here and now and future constructively.

  4. The character of a nation is derived from it’s history. If we as a nation are not proud of some of our history, then we should accept that fact and learn from it. All of our roots, good and bad, have value and contribute to who we are. Cut away the roots of a tree, and it will die. So will our culture if we cut too deeply.

  5. We need the money and the Constitution. We don’t need all of those minor statues. If you are concerned about preserving our heritage and our history, then go to any library and check out a book about it, there are plenty of them.

    • Maybe not. If we continue to remove all references to slavery or the Confederacy from our history, you won’t be able to find a book about it either. HBO has just eliminated the movie Gone With The Wind from its lineup. Has the cleansing already started?

      • Nothing in that post said anything about removing all references to slavery, etc., etc. The ‘ignorant’ part was that part of the statement “We need the money and the Constitution. We don’t need all of those minor statues.” That’s ignorant!

  6. The Civil War in our country happened and we should NOT forget, hide, or ignore that, However, we should not commemorate the insurrectionist side, in any way with statutes, or monuments or tributes, nor ANYTHING else. O.K., maybe roadside markers. If Buba objects, he should be told “Too bad, your ancestors should have know better and you should get on with your life and just be thankful they weren’t hung for treason.” We owe this not just to our black brother’s and sisters, but to our ancestors who fought and died to defend and preserve this great country.

  7. Fox News has been caught doctoring photos in their coverage of the CHAZ zone in Seattle, this a blatant attempt to try and show thing there that weren’t true. One of an armed guard around the barricade to the CHAZ zone that was actually a photo from Minneapolis they superimposed to Seattle to make things match a narrative (armed Antifa) that wasn’t true. They also showed a photo of a burning city, supposedly Seattle, that was also a picture from Minneapolis a week earlier, claiming anarchists are now in control of the city, also not true. Things are already bad enough without a major American news network outright lying about the what’s going on and altering pictures to support those lies.

    • Yeah, there were even people here on Lou’s blog that used that stuff to try and make the case that Antifa had seized downtown Seattle and had armed guards patrolling the area. They kept doubling down on this with all kinds of garbage. Just goes to show how some will make up nonsense to try and convince others of their own hateful wishful thinking. These are people who also want to be taken seriously and complain that other people are trying to suppress their rights to free speech?

  8. Did you know that there is a 16 foot tall statue of Lenin in Seattle? If we are going to continue pulling down statues, let’s do that one next

    • That’s a quote by a prison guard captain to justify beating Cool Hand Luke in the movie with that same name.

      Kind of an odd quote (especially without any reference to relevance) in these particularly repressive times?

  9. DeSantis announced yesterday (13th) that Florida Caronaviris count hit a new record high for the third straight day in a row. That in a state where the numbers are being proven to be regularly “cooked.”

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