A recent newspaper article about the Caesar Rodney statue’s removal, storage and return noted that it costs the taxpayers of Delaware $125 a month to store the Rodney statue and $102 a month to store the Christopher Columbus statue. For what? Because Caesar Rodney owned slaves, and Columbus did something to native Americans!
These two men shaped the formation of our nation. Caesar Rodney road 80 miles in pouring rain from Dover to Philadelphia — with face cancer — to break a tie, so America could become a country. Christopher Columbus discovered the land our country was founded on. This is history!
History is where we started, and we learn from it. Residents of England aren’t running around taking down statues of people who formed their nation just because they did something out of whack with current norms. We learn from history, which keeps countries from repeating the same mistakes. We are about to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary as a country. Bring back these two statues and restore them to their original glory.
If the plaque under the Rodney statue has to say he was a slave owner — who, in his will, freed his slaves upon his death — so be it. Delaware was a Southern state and still is if you venture below the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal.
Do the same for Columbus. Put a statement of what he did to Native Americans or that he owned slaves on a plaque under his statue but bring back our history for the bicentennial celebration.
And, while you’re at it, on Joe Biden’s statue, write that he lied about his education to become president. He lied that he did not know about Hunter Biden’s business deals, and he used his name and government position to accumulate millions of dollars for his family, then pardoned them with the autopen. And, on Matt Meyer’s statue, put that he held up the results of the New Castle County reassessment, so he could win the governor’s race in Delaware and that he has done irreparable harm to the state of Delaware by decoupling with the federal government, both in reputation and in tax dollars coming into the state.
Deirdre Taylor
Lewes and Newark
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
