Battle of Liberty Place

Copyright © 2012 Bob R Bogle



Original text posted 14 Sep 2012 at http://www.facebook.com/JeanLafitteNPS:

One of the most controversial monuments in the city of New Orleans stands a short distance off Canal Street. It has been moved, defaced, restored, adapted, torn down, and ardently defended throughout its 121-year history.

One side reads “September 14th 1874,” the date of the Battle of Liberty Place. On this day, this “battle” was fought between a group of white supremacists protesting black civil rights and the integrated New Orleans police during the progressive days of Reconstruction following the Civil War. Although the fighting was brief and unsuccessful in changing government, it became a rallying point for white supremacists all over the city. In 1891, during the height of Jim Crow, the white government of the city erected the monument “to commemorate the uprising.” In 2004, the city removed the monument, under pressure from protesters criticizing it as supporting racism. Soon after, the city reerected the monument because of outcry from historic preservationists, placing it in a less conspicuous location just off of Canal Street.

Today, some still see this monument as a celebration of racism and want it torn down and destroyed. Others see it as a monument to early civil rights struggle and a history which must be preserved rather than forgotten. What do you think? Are there times where we must move on from our history, or should it always be preserved?