Blake Harper, the tireless advocate for accurate and inclusive history, has fashioned a point-by-point response to those who want to tear down local historical monuments.
The first is the claim that the objective of Harper’s Unity Project is to “glorify the confederacy.”
Response: Nothing about Unity Project glorifies the Confederacy. The Project calls for plaques to contextualize the monuments to provide an accurate, if unflattering, perspective of the age. Three additional remembrances are recommended to expand our historical understanding of that age. The Unity Project is an extension of two demographically diverse City Hall Work Groups that recommended keeping and contextualizing our historical assets.
Other claims raised by opponents of a unified city who want to rewrite history:
· They are ashamed of Jacksonville’s past.
Response: This assumes we have not recognized the sins of the past or worked to correct them. Our country was a black and white segregated country in the late 1950s. Today, 70 years later, it is a country of diversity. Forgetting and manipulating history is one of the greatest cultural sins that can be undertaken because it is a nation’s history that reminds us of what to guard against and of those accomplishments that have served to move our culture forward.
· Tearing down statues is a popular position.
Response: Two separate polls done by the University of North Florida reaffirm that the majority in Jacksonville (a city of 1 million people) want to keep the statues. The drop in the majority percentage (54% to 51%) can be attributed to a blackout of the Unity Project that has been carried out by the local press. The people seeking to destroy our history belong to a narrow group of activists that do not represent the bedrock values of Jacksonville. They come from outside of Jacksonville and feed on the Critical Race Theory agenda. The groups wanting to destroy our history have also attacked the 2nd Amendment and Parent’s Rights, tried to defund JSO, replace officers with social workers and impose unconstitutional Citizen Review Boards. Their agenda in no way fits with Jacksonville’s constitutional bedrock values.
· Having the statues has a negative impact on the local economy.
Response: Facts prove otherwise. Forbes published its annual list of best places for business and retirees to move. Jacksonville is the only Florida city ranked in the top 25 in their May 2023 report. Franklin, TN, which successfully implemented policies identical to the recommendations from Jacksonville’s two City Hall Work Groups, was ranked by the national travel publication Travel & Leisure as 17th in their report on the top 50 places to visit in the U.S. Travel and Leisure remarked that the city’s first and most recognized attribute is its rich Civil War history. Livability just put out its rankings of 100 Best Places to Live in July. Four Florida cities made their way to the list. Franklin TN, made it into their ranking. Jacksonville did not. A rich and accurate historical aspect of the city does not hurt its economic development. Rather, as in the case of Franklin TN, it is an important part of its economy and attractiveness to businesses.
· Media are reporting the issue objectively.
Response: The Unity Project was made public in November 2021. It has been the subject of ongoing public comment at City Council when various reporters were in attendance. Three press conferences were called. Press releases were circulated to all of the TV, radio and print media. Broadcast media made planned attendances at only the last press conference called to address the middle-of-the-night removal of the Hemming Remnants. In the 22 months since then, the media has broadcast innumerable stories that focused only on the effort to destroy history. The few stories where the media covered the Unity Project, the coverage included advocates for the groups working to destroy our history. Jacksonville has gotten a one-sided perspective of the issue that is focused on two sides opposing each other and excluded the one perspective that comes from diverse and unaligned Jacksonville groups and affirmed by the successful application of the concept in a city far from the influence of Jacksonville.
· The city has more pressing needs than protecting history.
Response: The city of Jacksonville has many pressing needs. In the Forbes magazine article, extremely high crime is noted as a detractor. Infrastructure needs (not including the Emerald Trail) have long been ignored for eye-catching initiatives.
Harper is using Mayor Donna Deegan’s “community conversations” meetings to promote the Unity Project’s viewpoint and prevent the destruction of more of the city’s history. Apparently he is hoping the leftwing media, which is covering the meetings intensively, will be forced to report some of the other side of the story.
That would be a refreshing change.
