As People debate whether or not monuments to slave homeowners, together with lots of the nation’s founders, ought to be taken down, depend singer as somebody who needs them to go.
“If we plan to maneuver ahead, these monuments should come down,” Timberlake, a local Tennessean, mentioned Monday on social media. “However let’s bear in mind: Eradicating these statues doesn’t erase our nation’s vile historical past of oppression — eradicating them is a logo of respect for Black individuals in America and it’s a step in the direction of progress and precise equality for all.”
Timberlake wrote his message alongside a video from the American Civil Liberties Union, which notes that the 10 states with the very best numbers of monuments honoring slave holders and members of the Confederacy accounted for numerous lynchings — four,000 — between 1877 to 1950.
The “Mirrors” singer’s phrases come as symbols of systemic racism throughout the nation are being taken down. They’re being eliminated in some locations by the federal government and in others just by individuals who need change, as they collect to protest in opposition to police brutality and racial inequality following the loss of life of George Floyd. Final week, as an illustration, leaders in Boston voted unanimously to take away a statue of Abraham Lincoln that includes a freed Black slave kneeling on the former president’s toes. Some statues have been toppled by protesters, reminiscent of one in every of Jefferson Davis, as soon as the president of the Accomplice States of America, in Richmond, Va., final month.
Amid the protests, Timberlake has turned over his social media channels to Black leaders, together with politician Stacey Abrams and activists from organizations together with the and .
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