Removal and Renaming of Statues
In 2017, UT Austin removed several confederate statues from their places of prominence on campus in the middle of the night. This action was part of a state of removals and renaming nationwide as several institutions grappled with the meaning and impact of these monuments. Years later, there are still ideological and legal battles surrounding the decision. The statue of Jefferson Davis in particular was returned to campus and mounted at the Briscoe Center in an exhibit titled “From Commemoration to Education.”
In this 3-page double-spaced essay, critically analyze the ethics associated with the removal of this site of public history given the state’s racial and gendered history. Be sure to make use of the ethics glossary provided in class lectures to discuss how the myriad of ways that decisions regarding the statue’s erection, removal, and repositioning could be justified with the presented frameworks.
Consider the articles linked below as well as other academic or public sources in your response.
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/08/20/ut-austin-removing-confederate-statues-middle-night/ (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/university-of-texas/ut-austin-removed-confederate-statues-group-takes-case-to-court/269-d96e4a4c-2d02-40d5-8fff-6fba80193eee (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/jefferson-davis-back-ut/ (Links to an external site.)
For a refresher on definitions and ethical frameworks, review your lecture notes and visit:
https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
A complete essay will:
Consider the ethical dilemmas the University, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the courts, and other stakeholders may have faced.
Discuss the distinctions between commemoration and education.
Clearly lay out values that you believe should govern an ethical society.
Clearly lay out and prioritize your own ethical values and the categories or kinds of ethics these represent with relation to the societal ethical values you have laid out.
Apply your ethical values and what you have been taught in this class about racisms, gender, historical narratives, silences, and power differentials in the making of a historical narrative in an evaluation of the decisions made by the stakeholders considering the dilemmas each was presented with.
Conclude by stating and justifying your own ethical conclusions about the case and the kinds of ethics you utilized to arrive at those conclusions.
