The word of the year is division, and the on cue, the debate over what to do with the Confederate Monument in Eastville Green has exposed a rift among Northampton residents.
At Tuesday’s public hearing, the response was mixed, with some speakers supporting the monument, others steadfastly against it remaining. All written comments were in favor of removing the statue.
Where there was agreement, it came in support of Dr. Art Carter’s proposal to leave the Confederate Monument, and adding a monument to a Union Solider who is carved in “an African-American likeness.”
Supervisor Dixon Leatherbury argued that modern mores and morality should not be used to judge those that lived in the 19th century.
Chairman Oliver Bennett was more divisive, noting he would not compromise on the monument based on the racism he had to endure living in Northampton County.
The fate of the monument will be on the agenda at the Board’s next Regular meeting in November.
To be worried about a statue, people must have an awful lot of free time that they don’t know what to do with.
To have all these concerns about statues when there is so much more important today to have concerns about seems to indicate some kind of serious mental imbalance on the part of a lot of people here in America, a highly divided nation at war with itself.
This hatred for statues that people have in this country is also an interesting phenomenon from a mental health perspective.
When these people no longer have these statues to hate, one must seriously wonder where they will turn their hatred next, and upon whom.
When they no longer have statues to tear down, what will they tear down next?
Poor, poor little Oliver…time to grow up and grow a set.
And if there is to be a new statue put up, and my goodness, since there is one there now, there should be a new one put up when this one gets torn down as being politically uncorrect, who should be on that new statue standing there in a gallant pose for all the candid world to see is Chairman Oliver Bennett, who is now firmly on record as stating he would not compromise on the monument based on the racism he had to endure living in Northampton County because of that very statue, which is a human interest story of interest to the whole candid world just waiting to be told here in the pages of the venerable Cape Charles Mirror, what it’s like to be a victim of racism caused by a statue of a dead Confederate soldier, which is something most of us will never know, and hence, would like to hear about from someojne who has a claim to be a genuine victim of it, as is clearly the case here with Chairman Oliver Bennett, who is now firmly on record as stating he would not compromise on the monument based on the racism he had to endure living in Northampton County because of that very statue.
And what to do about it, then, besides knocking the statue down in pieces?
Here I am thinking about Xerxes having the Bosporus chained and flogged for having the audacity and temerity to destroy the bridge of boats Xerxes had constructed to he could invade Greece.
If Xerxes had the Bosporus chained and flogged, why, it would seem to be that that also would be a suitable and quite fitting symbolic punishment of this dead Confederate soldier that is responsible for the racism Chairman Oliver Bennett had to endure living in Northampton County because of that very statue – to chain it and then give it 500 strokes with a cat-o-nine tails.
That would teach is something, alright!
If the statue is removed, I think some reparations should be made. All of the expenses for the statue, it’s creation and placement, it’s maintenance through the years, all those expenses should be added up. Then we need to take into account all of the emotional harm that will be done to all the historians who appreciate this statue for the history it helps keep in place for them. How that history helps keep them grounded. We need to somehow calculate what the cost of all the psychiatric visits will be to get over the emotional trauma created by the removal for the next 320 years (consider and predict inflation too)and tell Northampton county what the total is for these expenses. The county should then present the bill to all the folks who want the statue removed. Have the naysayers evenly split the bill, and pay it from amongst them ,and we go forward from there.
What I propose we do from there is save the world from the rest of it’s own historical ignorance. Let’s put a committee together to visit Rome. Let’s get our smoothest talking group together to convince The Italians that all the reminders of early Rome need to come down. We convince The Italians that so many Christians were fed to the lions that they need to wake up and wipe out this part of their history in order to begin to heal. Start with an audience with the pope. He’s read a book or two 50,000 times on the subject regarding some of the folks he believes in. I’m sure we’ll get him on board. I’m sure he believes all the Christians of the world deserve history to be reshaped and reparations given them. Just think of all the accolades we’ll receive from Christians worldwide for our enlightened work !
The naysayers for our statue should also pay the bill for the committee visit to Italy. It will teach them the value of a wasted dollar on a sad errand. Can I please head the group visiting Italy ? I’ve never seen Rome, or Florence or Naples…..
While you’re over there, MJM, get me some reparations because I am pretty sure those Romans held some of my Germanic ancestors as slaves after Caesar captured them and sold them, which is why I am poor today, because of the lost earnings of those people.
And as to this horse**** of Chairman Oliver Bennett not compromising on the dead Confederate soldier monument based on the racism he says he has had to endure living in Northampton County because of the dead Confederate statue, I have to ask, WHAT RACISM?
WTF is he talking about with this “racism” BULL****?
According to his published bio, Oliver H. Bennett has lived on the Eastern Shore of Virginia for the past 35+ years and he is currently employed by the Northampton County School System.
So where is the racism there?
Moving along, according to his bio, Oliver H. Bennett is once again currently a Northampton County Supervisor, having served before as District 3 representative from 1996 – 2003.
Is that more racism we are seeing there, where racism is defined as prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person on the basis of his membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized, and the belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another.
If the dude is holding elective public office, then where exactly is this racism he says he has had to endure for the last 35 or more years since he moved to Northampton County?
If he was a victim of racism, wouldn’t he have been kept out of public office, not elected in?
Going back to his bio, we have:
Bennett attended public schools in Laurel, Delaware, and continued his education at Delaware State University, Dover, Delaware.
He also has coached football, boys’ basketball, and boys’ and girls’ track.
Oliver is a member of Antioch Baptist Church in Treherneville, where he serves as a trustee, financial secretary, and member of the choir.
In addition, he is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Eastern Shore Agency on Aging, the Accomack-Northampton Transportation District Commission, past President of the Virginia Association of Counties, the Education Steering Committee for Virginia Association of Counties, the Task Force on Indoor Air Quality in Public Schools, and was Co-Chairman of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Small Community Advisory Subcommittee.
YUP!
Sure does look like a clear-cut case of genuine, dyed-in-the-wool racism to me, alright.
‘Chairman Oliver Bennett was more divisive, noting he would not compromise on the monument based on the racism he had to endure living in Northampton County.’
Give us three examples, Oliver of your endued racism. It must not have been so bad, you stayed here.
So sick of this from blacks. We gave them our dream, with a lot of public assistance for free.
They give us nothing but grief.
You all are most welcome.
Without getting into a blanket statement made here specifically against blacks, I would be happy just to hear of one example in which Mr Bennett was personally treated differently due only to racism
We are waiting for your reply, Oliver…..let us hear your examples of racism, you poor thing.
And why not simply get some paint and paint the dude on the statue’s face Black and the uniform blue and re-label it as a monument to the Black dudes who fought for the Union in the War of Northern Aggression – that seems like such a simple and elegant solution to the problem of this dead Confederate soldier causing racism against Oliver Bennett.
Funk Oliver and the horse he road in on.
It’s rode, not ‘road’. Oliver, I axed you a question about the horrific racism you endured…I guess it wasn’t bad enough to make you rode back up the road.
The Black Community Leaders told him he could stay, for a while, as long as he played the race card when necessary…
Awww… poor Oliver Bennett (in my sarcastic voice). Mr Bennett was teaching at Northampton Junior High School when I was a student there from 1975 to 1977. If anyone ever was racist,it was Me Bennett. He was never mistreated or treated differently because of his race. Many of us students suffered racism at the hands of Mr Bennett.
And,correct me if I’m wrong here, but when you hold public office, you are supposed to represent all your constituents, not just “my people” or your personal feelings. I believe if Mr Bennett allows personal feelings to influence his decisions, HE NEEDS TO RESIGN. IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!