In this Dispatch, Dr. Deaton takes a look at the controversial history behind Georgia’s Stone Mountain.
2 thoughts on “Dispatches From Off the Deaton Path: Stone Mountain”
Jeff Gee
I grew up near Stone Mountain and do not remember visiting the park when the carving was not there. I did not know until this video that the carving initially had anything to do with protesting the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s. As a child and teenager, I visited the park many times and viewed the entire park as a reminder of our country’s past. There was (and I expect still is) a museum directly opposite the carving, quite a little hike back up the hill. I remember seeing all kinds of Civil War items inside, old uniforms, old rifles, canteens, swords, bullets, tools of various kinds. There was a story, an important one. As a nation, we fought a horrible war amongst ourselves and at the end finally got rid of slavery. One key message to me was, “Thank God the South lost the war.” As a kid, I never saw the carving or anything else in the park as a racist statement or as an affront to anyone. It told a story. The men pictured on the carving were part of that story, and many of the evils of that story were no longer with us. I never understood the carving to mean anyone wished Lee, Jackson, and Davis had actually won the war; that would have been dreadful. But I suppose others have seen the carving in that light. I hope as a people we do not get to the point where we are unwilling to study our history and learn from it, including our past mistakes and successes. Showing kindness and forgiveness contributes immeasurably to creating a civil society.
Trying to remove the carving from Stone Mountain puts our efforts here in Oxford, UK, to remove the statue of Cecil Rhodes from the front of Oriel College overlooking the High Street, into perspective!.
I grew up near Stone Mountain and do not remember visiting the park when the carving was not there. I did not know until this video that the carving initially had anything to do with protesting the civil rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s. As a child and teenager, I visited the park many times and viewed the entire park as a reminder of our country’s past. There was (and I expect still is) a museum directly opposite the carving, quite a little hike back up the hill. I remember seeing all kinds of Civil War items inside, old uniforms, old rifles, canteens, swords, bullets, tools of various kinds. There was a story, an important one. As a nation, we fought a horrible war amongst ourselves and at the end finally got rid of slavery. One key message to me was, “Thank God the South lost the war.” As a kid, I never saw the carving or anything else in the park as a racist statement or as an affront to anyone. It told a story. The men pictured on the carving were part of that story, and many of the evils of that story were no longer with us. I never understood the carving to mean anyone wished Lee, Jackson, and Davis had actually won the war; that would have been dreadful. But I suppose others have seen the carving in that light. I hope as a people we do not get to the point where we are unwilling to study our history and learn from it, including our past mistakes and successes. Showing kindness and forgiveness contributes immeasurably to creating a civil society.
Trying to remove the carving from Stone Mountain puts our efforts here in Oxford, UK, to remove the statue of Cecil Rhodes from the front of Oriel College overlooking the High Street, into perspective!.