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Are monuments to the Confederacy offensive? Should they be torn down?
Ever since the fight over the removal of the Robert E. Lee monument in Charlottesville, Virginia, a national debate has raged over Confederate monuments and memorials all across the nation. These debates have led to other controversies — over state flags, high school mascots, and whether people should be allowed to brandish Confederate flags publicly.
In Massachusetts, a committee was formed last year to discuss changing the state flag, which includes the arm of Miles Standish — who was in charge of the military affairs of Plimoth Plantation (now called Plimoth Patuxet) — holding a sword above an emblem of a Native American. The state’s motto, “Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem” — “By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty” — is shown below.
In this conversation, Professor Ousmane Power-Greene and Dutch filmmaker Tim van den Hoff will consider these local and national discussions and debates. Van den Hoff traveled more than 6,000 miles throughout the American South to interview people and capture moments of this contentious debate for his documentary, “Monumental Crossroads.”