By DARLENE VANNEDGEWATER, Fla. -- I recently read a media report that the 118-year-old statue commemorating Stephen Foster’s “Oh, Susannah,” has been removed due to people complaining it portrays the level of the black man is below the white man.
The Guiseppe Moretti statue completed in 1900 and placed in a Pittsburg park was dedicated with thousands attending according to the article I read. It depicted Stephen Foster with a black man seated at his feet playing a banjo.
To me, it is a part of our history. It is well known many of his songs were influenced by slaves of his time’s spirituals. There is no denying that slavery existed in our past. Taking down all references to it does not mean that wipes it away. I just don’t understand why it has become such an issue to try to erase our history and I mean OUR. White and Black all lived through those times many of each side against slavery. What we don’t learn from history we are doomed to repeat. This particular statue showed both a reverence to the songwriter and one of his muses, nothing more. In my eyes, both were being honored. Can we not just acknowledge the past and move on?
To me, it is a part of our history. It is well known many of his songs were influenced by slaves of his time’s spirituals. There is no denying that slavery existed in our past. Taking down all references to it does not mean that wipes it away. I just don’t understand why it has become such an issue to try to erase our history and I mean OUR. White and Black all lived through those times many of each side against slavery. What we don’t learn from history we are doomed to repeat. This particular statue showed both a reverence to the songwriter and one of his muses, nothing more. In my eyes, both were being honored. Can we not just acknowledge the past and move on?
The Indians fought for their country before it was ever “ours”. We fought with England to become a free land but we don’t drag down any statues of English people. Some people are still fighting the Civil War causing great unrest in this country and it is time we just stopped it and learned to get along.
To placate the complainers a statue of honoring an Afro-American woman will be erected in the place of this one as soon as they decide what woman (yes, you may submit a black woman to be considered still) and poor Stephen is relegated to a storage lot until the city finds a proper place to move it to which I’d bet will be never. I assume we should not be singing any of his songs either. How sad will that be?
How ignorant are we to let this keep happening?