The New South
As we tear down statues that don’t represent us or our values, whose statues should we erect instead? John Laurens was a revolutionary hero who fought to free slaves. He was rumored to be queer, though not many of his letters survive. Let’s claim him as a better role model.
There’s a statue of him in Lafayette Park in DC, but I could not find statues of him further South. Laurens County was named after him. Shouldn’t there be more?
Should we not make visible our heroes from the past? Or is it dangerous to turn people into symbols? Who planted the seeds that grew us?
Harriet Tubman is only now being memorialized on our money. Her statues are all over the NORTH, despite what she did in the Civil War. She got a bridge. In 2006.
Who’s your John Laurens? And where should your monument be?
