Sunday, March 26, 2023

Worthy of Statuary Hall

Eight years ago I wrote about visiting Statuary Hall in the Capitol.  Each state is allowed two statues there, and there was talk then of replacing (now-Saint) Junipero Serra's statue from California because of his mistreatment of the local natives.  As I wrote then:

I was the first person my tour guide had ever encountered who know who Starr-King was, which explains why every once in awhile there's talk of replacing his statue with Ronald Reagan.  As long as California remains a dystopian "paradise", though, that will never happen.  But it's still interesting to see two men noted for their religions memorialized by California.

Here we are, all these years later, and there's still talk of replacing Serra.  (I note in this article that such statues are supposed to represent the individual's "full length", but you can see at the link above that Dr. King's does not.)  Who do the authors of that article think merits a statue in the Capitol?  Maya Angelou, Sally Ride, Cesar Chavez, Anna May Wong, and Snowshoe Thompson.  Sure, those people each accomplished something worthwhile in their lives, but I don't think any of them holds a candle to Ronald Reagan.  

You may as well put Mark Zuckerberg or Willie Mays on that list.  Or Elon Musk.  (Yes, I know you have to be dead to have a statue in Statuary Hall, but hopefully you get my point.)

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