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Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) on Thursday accused President Donald Trump of emboldening vandals to set fire to a bust of Abraham Lincoln that has stood as a symbol of freedom in West Englewood for nearly a century. . .A West Englewood resident interviewed Thursday speculated that some burn damage to the Lincoln bust may have been caused by fireworks set off on July 4th.“People were out partying on the 4th of July and lighting fireworks off of it,” said Christopher Jackson, 22, who lives two blocks from the statue and saw the revelers also light newspapers on fire on top...

In the wake of the violence that took place in Charlottesville over last weekend, numerous activists and politicians have called for the destruction of more historical monuments, although a significant majority of Americans (62 percent) think the monuments should stay put. Only 27 percent of Americans think these statues should be removed for fear of offending some people. As usual, public opinion’s not stopping liberals from pursuing an unpopular agenda. Though by no means comprehensive, here’s a list of the monuments that are facing calls for removal or have already been torn down. 1. The Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC...

9 White Celebs, World Leaders Whose Families Owned Slaves Anderson Cooper A rule of thumb is: where there is old money, you will find some connection to slavery. So of course it wasn’t hard to determine that Anderson Cooper was connected, in a familial way, to slavery. His bloodline is tied to the Vanderbilts, one of the richest families in American history. Cooper’s great-great-grandfather, Cornelius Vanderbilt – who was also Cooper’s cousin through inbreeding – was a tycoon who built his wealth from shipping and railroads. He also owned plantations: one in particular was in Georgetown, S.C., where Michelle Robinson...

As the left mobilizes mobs to tear down confederate statues (and peace monuments) from city-to-city, it was only a matter of time before they would be going after our Founding Fathers. On CNN Thursday morning, liberal analyst Angela Rye argued that our nation’s first president was as detestable as Robert E. Lee because he was a slave owner. “To me, I don't care if it's a George Washington statue or Thomas Jefferson, they all need to come down,” she said before ranting about America’s “very violent past.” In a panel discussion with the Daily Beast’s John Avlon, journalist Farai Chideya...

Officials at the Gettysburg National Military Park said Wednesday that the monuments at the expansive Pennsylvania battlefield will stay despite unrest over Confederate memorials. "These memorials, erected predominantly in the early and mid-20th Century, are an important part of the cultural landscape," battlefield spokeswoman Katie Lawhon told the Hanover Evening Sun.

It is shocking that in the current year of 2017, there are hateful symbols of the Ku Klux Klan still in the US Capitol. The statue to Robert Byrd must be removed. -Robert Byrd was not only a KKK member but was in a key leadership position as "exalted cyclops" -Robert Byrd actively worked against desegregation efforts and filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1964 -He spent his career enriching himself and his cronies instead of being a civic minded leader for the people, earning himself the nefarious title "King of Pork" by Citizens Against Government Waste -He spent his...

The Interior Department won’t be removing monuments to Confederate soldiers at national battlefields that are “an important part of our country’s history,” according to a spokesman. “The National Park Service is committed to safeguarding these memorials while simultaneously educating visitors holistically and objectively about the actions, motivations and causes of the soldiers and states they commemorate,” spokesman Jeremy Barnum told E&E News.

It appears Baltimore's Confederate four monuments are coming down faster than previously thought. Baltimore's mayor and City Council members differed over how to remove the city's four Confederate monuments, but crews were seen early Wednesday removing statues. About a dozen city crews and private contractors were seen in Wyman Park, removing the Lee and Jackson Monument. Crews started getting ready around midnight Tuesday. By 3 a.m., a crane hoisted the monument from its pedestal. By 3:45 a.m., the monument was transferred to a flatbed truck.

Park officials say the Confederate monuments in Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania are staying put, according to our affiliate WSET. The national park has not received any complaints about the monuments, park spokesperson Katie Lawhon told USA Today. "These memorials, erected predominantly in the early and mid-20th century, are an important part of the cultural landscape," Lawhon said in an email to USA Today. Lawhon told reporters that the park's mission includes interpreting the actions, motivations, and causes of the soldiers. Gettysburg National Military Park focuses on the Battle of Gettysburg, which was the bloodiest battle during the Civil...

Today, the CEO of the Silver Star Families of America, Steven J. Newton, came out strongly against, what he called “erasing the artifacts of this nation’s past.”

Council on American-Islamic Relations: Tear Down Every Confederate Memorial Eric Owens Education Editor 8:22 AM 08/15/2017 The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), America’s largest Muslim civil rights group, is calling on state and local governments all over the United States to tear down all monuments and memorials commemorating Confederate leaders and the short-lived Confederate States of America. CAIR joined several groups asking for the removal of Confederate memorials in the wake of a “Unite the Right” white supremacist rally that turned violent over the weekend. At the Charlottesville, Va. rally, James Alex Fields, a rally attendee, allegedly plowed his grey...

In the video, the Arkansas Capitol dome can be seen lit against the night sky as the Dodge Dart accelerates to 10, then 20 mph. “Oh my goodness,” a man says as he flicks on the car’s lights. “Freedom!” The vehicle speeds up the hill, and the last thing that comes into view before a crash is a large, newly installed monument. Authorities say the man in the video is Michael Tate Reed, an alleged serial destroyer of Ten Commandments monuments. He was arrested by state capitol police officers at the scene early Wednesday, according to Chris Powell, a spokesman...

On Tuesday, a statue of the Ten Commandments was installed at the Arkansas Capitol grounds. Less than a day later, it had been run over by a car and destroyed. Michael Reed, a 32-year-old from Van Buren, Arkansas with a history of mental illness, recorded himself ramming his car into the monument, shouting "freedom" shortly before impact. Reed has previously been accused of destroying a similar Ten Commandments monument in Oklahoma.

The New Orleans Police Department dedicated more than 200 officers and 8,600 man-hours to keep the peace at three Confederate monuments as the city removed them last month, city records show. The cash-strapped city spent more than $173,000 on paying officers deployed to protests and removal operations at the Jefferson Davis, P.G.T. Beauregard and Robert E. Lee monuments, including $112,000 in time-and-a-half overtime pay that went to 178 officers. The city overtime data and expenses were provided to WWL-TV in response to the station’s public records request for police overtime dedicated to the removal of four monuments starting with the...

The new law attempts to preserve history by making it illegal to remove monuments that have been in place for more than 40 years. The Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017, signed into law Wednesday by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R), protects historical Confederate monuments which have come under fire in recent weeks by Democratic politicians. The new legislation prohibits: The relocation, removal, alteration, renaming, or other disturbance of any architecturally significant building, memorial building, memorial street, or monument located on public property which has been in place for 40 or more years.

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Poll to remove civil war monuments from Richmond's Monument Avenue ( see url for poll)

In the news last week, if we took a break from the daily Trump melodrama now playing in Washington, we noticed the reignition of an older, but still potent cultural firestorm, namely the push to remove Confederate-themed monuments from public properties. In New Orleans, last Wednesday, workers dismantled a monument to General P.G.T. Beauregard under cover of darkness, although supporters and opponents of the action came out to watch the spectacle anyway. The fault lines separating the opposing sides in these matters have been thoroughly explored and require no further explanation here. Suffice to say that this issue is heating...

“The cultural and economic and the spiritual loss to this city for having those statues up that have run people out of the city,” Landrieu claimed. “The great migration that sent some of our best and brightest to places across the country that we don’t have the benefit of has been incredible.”

I am NOT in favor of removing historic monuments. I especially think it is stupid to take down the Robert E. Lee statue at Lee Circle, a New Orleans landmark. Nevertheless, what gripes me most about the issue is its nonsensical nature on both sides. I find it incredibly disappointing that the mayor of New Orleans, in the midst of all the challenges and problems New Orleans faces, chose this issue to be his legacy. And make no mistake: this will be his legacy. He has no other accomplishments or achievements of note in his 8 years in office.