I was driving around downtown the other day, and drove past this monument, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Campus Martius on Woodward at Monroe. Every time I see this monument, I can't help but marvel at the beauty of the top statue, and wonder who in the world these people were who built this monument, what is it is intended to memorialize, and in general, who these great people were. I mean, this is something you would expect to see in Paris, Vienna, London, or Brussels, but not Detroit! And then I usually ask myself why I didn't become an art history major.
Anyway, I have learned that this statue is intended to memorialize the soldiers and sailors who fought in the Civil War. I know that my great-great grandfather, Frank Bieke, served with the First Michigan Light Artillery, Battery A, during the Civil War. In fact, I beleive that thier unit received the colors to take into battle with them right here at Campus Martius. So in addition to being a world-class monument, this is the only big monument (other than the Labor Monument in the Hart Plaza) that I know of that memorializes one of my direct ancestors. So yeah, this monument gets me to thinking, every time I pass by it. And it does make me a little bit proud that my DNA is memorialized in that statue.
But look at the figure on the top, the way she is holding that sword, the shield. Don't wanna mess with her! The figure really does take your breath away (although the photos I posted doesn't do it justice).
Let's think a little bit about why these soldiers and sailors are memorialized. What great thing did they do? They freed the slaves, of course. At least that's what they teach in schools. Although the civil war was fought for several reasons, ending slavery is what most people think of when they think of the civil war. A fitting memorial for such a great legacy, don't you think?
Look around Detroit a little bit more. Do you see all the factories? The empty factories? These are a monument, too - to the "Arsenal of Democracy," to the city that produced over 1/2 of the war material for the US in WWII. The WWII generation is remembered as saving the world from fascism, and making the world safe for democracy (at least until November 2000!).
So that begs the question: How will historians judge the present generation? How will God judge us? What is the legacy the current generation in SE Michigan will be known for?
Will we be judged as a society that advanced justice, civil rights, and eradicated poverty? That treated the least of its citizens with the same respect as the greatest? Or will we be known as the generation that started out with a world-class city ("The Paris Of The Midwest") and turned it into a poverty-stricken city?
Will Detroit be known as an example of the failures of the Federal Government, for creating welfare dependency and for paying single women to have babies?
Or will Detroit be known as an example of the failures of the Federal Government, for advancing the "Ownership Society?" One explanation for the concentration of poverty in Detroit is that the federal government encouraged people to leave Detroit, by enacting tax breaks for home ownership and low-cost home loans (thus encouraging home ownership in the suburbs). And the building of freeways that further encourage suburban living while still being able to earn money in the city (thus draining more money from the city?). The people who could afford to leave left, leaving a concentration of those who couldn't afford to get out?
Or is Detroit the yellow canary that signals the begining of the end for our social system? Is Detroit an example of what happens when people are concerned so much for their own well-being and the pursuit of the american dream that people ignore thier communities, thier neighborhoods?
What will our legacy be?
What do you want Detroit's legacy to be?
What can you do to make it so?
Frank-
ReplyDeleteIt's quite a stretch to conclude that tax breaks and low-interest loans for home ownership led to the decline of Detroit. How about noise, congestion, industrial "grayness" and general lack of 'lebensraum'?
By the way, 'their' is spelled thusly.
Remember; I before E, except after C, or when pronounced like A, as in 'neighbor' or 'weigh' (and 'their').
-Dad
Frank,
ReplyDeleteAfter thinking about post I would like to be remembered for the monuments, structures and barriers that we've broken down rather than built.
We've made great strides in breaking down barriers such as racism and gender inequality. We've also torn down physical barriers like the Berlin Wall.
And who could forget those images of the 40-foot Saddam Hussein statue being dropped by that American tank? Man, that was sweet!
Wow Frank, your dad's tough on you about the spelling thing, but he's made a good point. No easy answers. Poor immigrants and poor Black Americans came to Detroit for better pay and better lives. Blacks--unfortunately and because of institutional racism--were on the bottom rung of the ladder. Things have changed a lot, incredibly, but the scars of the past remain. Many people who remain on the East Side of Detroit are broken. Broken spirits. Raising children who have never known anything but broken glass and crabgrass and looking over their shoulders for trouble and horrible educations...and this ongoing tragedy passes on to another generation.
ReplyDelete