This week, Mayor Bowser’s administration had an incredibly unforced error concerning the problematic histories of several revered historical figures. But in doing so, the adminstration also flagged several prominent names from Georgetown’s history. And even after the immediate controversy passes, the neighborhood ought to grapple with these figures and their role in the suffering of others.
But first, the unforced error. This came with the issuance of a report from the DC Facilities and Community Expressions (DCFACE) working group. This group was created to assess a variety of public assets around the city to determine which of them are named after individuals who participated “in slavery, systemic racism, mistreatment of, or actions that suppressed equality for, persons of color, women and LGBTQ communities and violation of the DC Human Right Act.” This would be done with the goal of removing, renaming or recontextualizing those assets to better reflect the city’s current beliefs and ideals.
One of the sections of the report flagged some iconic DC memorials and monuments, including the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial. The section included them as properties that should be either moved, renamed or recontextualized. Obviously they were not going to either moved or renamed, so a fair reading of their inclusion would be that they should be recontextualized with the addition of a plaque, or whatever, that point out that “hey, they great men also owned human beings, including children.” Continue reading















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