FRANCIS SCOTT KEY STATUE TOPPLED BY PROTESTERS
San Francisco, California (JFK+50) On Friday, June 19, 2020, the statue of Francis Scott Key in Golden Gate Park* was toppled by protesters demonstrating against racial injustice. The action came on the heels of 22 cities in the United States removing or approving the removal of Confederate monuments.
The Confederacy's link to racial injustice is clear, but why Francis Scott Key?
Christopher Wilson of Smithsonian Magazine answers that question with these words...
"Key not only profited from slaves, he harbored racist conceptions of American citizenship and human potential."
Francis Scott Key once described African-Americans as...
"an inferior race... which all experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts a community."
In light of this, Mr. Wilson questions how Key got a pass in our history with his contradictory line in "The Star Spangled Banner," 'land of the free.' Wilson's article was written almost four years ago. Based on the actions of protesters here in San Francisco, that pass has been revoked.
*Golden Gate Park is a large urban park located in San Francisco, CA consisting of 1017 acres. Monuments in the park include Francis Scott Key, Robert Emmet, Robert Burns, General John J. Pershing, President James A. Garfield & Beethoven.
SOURCES
"Protesters bring down statue of Francis Scott Key," by Ella Torres, June 20, 2020, ABC NEWS, www.abcnews.go.com/
"Where's the Debate on Francis Scott Key's Slave-Holding Legacy," by Christopher Wilson, July 1, 2016, www.smithsonianmag.com/
Francis Scott Key Statue
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California
Photo by King of Hearts (2016)
www.wikimedia.org/
San Francisco, California (JFK+50) On Friday, June 19, 2020, the statue of Francis Scott Key in Golden Gate Park* was toppled by protesters demonstrating against racial injustice. The action came on the heels of 22 cities in the United States removing or approving the removal of Confederate monuments.
The Confederacy's link to racial injustice is clear, but why Francis Scott Key?
Christopher Wilson of Smithsonian Magazine answers that question with these words...
"Key not only profited from slaves, he harbored racist conceptions of American citizenship and human potential."
Francis Scott Key once described African-Americans as...
"an inferior race... which all experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts a community."
In light of this, Mr. Wilson questions how Key got a pass in our history with his contradictory line in "The Star Spangled Banner," 'land of the free.' Wilson's article was written almost four years ago. Based on the actions of protesters here in San Francisco, that pass has been revoked.
*Golden Gate Park is a large urban park located in San Francisco, CA consisting of 1017 acres. Monuments in the park include Francis Scott Key, Robert Emmet, Robert Burns, General John J. Pershing, President James A. Garfield & Beethoven.
SOURCES
"Protesters bring down statue of Francis Scott Key," by Ella Torres, June 20, 2020, ABC NEWS, www.abcnews.go.com/
"Where's the Debate on Francis Scott Key's Slave-Holding Legacy," by Christopher Wilson, July 1, 2016, www.smithsonianmag.com/
Francis Scott Key Statue
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California
Photo by King of Hearts (2016)
www.wikimedia.org/
