The John C. Calhoun statue as it rested on Marion Square in the City of Charleston for over 120 years prior to the current Charleston City Council voting to remove it and shipping it to California.
On November 17, 2021, Live News 5 WSCS TV reported that a California museum had requested taking the John C. Calhoun statue to add to its collection of Confederate statues there. It now appears that that is where the statue is headed unless some intervention takes place soon.
In June 2020, after the riots that occurred across the nation following the killing of George Floyd by policeman Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, the city of Charleston made the decision to remove the John C. Calhoun monument located in Marion Square, Charleston as some members of the community expressed concerns about the character of Calhoun regarding slavery issues.
At that time, scores of Confederate and other monuments around the country were being targeted for removal, some for fear of attracting protest riots and vandalism. There were many acts of vandalism occurring then from splashing monuments with paint, to dressing them in various inappropriate clothing, to adding insulting signs, to spray painting of inappropriate graffiti on statues and bases, to even beheadings, topplings, throwing into rivers, and cutting off of hands.
All in all, within that one year, approximately 40 monuments were removed in Virginia alone, 25 in North Carolina, and scatterings of various monuments across the country. Some court cases arose to resist their removal and appeals to court systems to keep them in place.
Is it really an appropriate response to remove all our historical monuments to appease violent protesters, modern day Bolsheviks and replace the history of the South and cast it away forever? The destination of the John C. Calhoun statue is even worse than that.
LAXART MUSEUM RADICAL LEFTIST DISPLAY PROPOSED
Los Angeles’s LAXART Museum has a specific agenda regarding Confederate monuments it is attempting to collect: ridicule and reflection of a total Marxist attitude.
In his remarks to the Charleston officials in requesting the statue of John Calhoun come to them, museum director Hamza Walker stated in a letter than the exhibit to be called “Monuments” will be used to clearly point out the fallacy of the “Lost Cause Belief” that he claims surrounds the monuments.
“Formed in the wake of the Civil War, the Lost Cause contends that the South’s secession from the Union and the ensuing bloodshed was not about slavery but rather, was courageously fought to defend states’ rights from a tyrannical federal government in spite of overwhelming odds against them,” Walker said.
In truth, the works of the LAXART Museum show definite anti=Americanism proudly displayed there for all who visit. Going way beyond the displaying of Confederate statues with satirical or downplayed plaques (most likely to occur), the exhibits there have shown how far to the left they will go toward the over turning of all United States history and traditions.
LAXART exhibitions are found to be disturbing portrayals of traditional American ideals or simply lewd art. One
exhibition features unprintable words and is entitled “Remote Castration.” One especially anti-American display called “Reconstitution” (shown here) features new themes placed prominently atop Arabic script boldly showing such words as “Poverty and Sadness for Which it Stands,” “Red Skin Bounty Tis of Thee,” “Is Republic Fair, Bombs Bursting Air,” “500 Years Violence Purple Mountain Majesties,” and “Shed Grace on Thee American Brutality.”
CHARLESTON OFFICIALS WANTED TO GIVE STATUE AWAY BUT
DESCENDANTS SUE
The Charleston Historical Commission held discussions among its members regarding the proposed offer to move the statue to California that was presented to the city. At a meeting held in mid-December, the group, after wrestling with the issue, opted to support the move of the monument to California. Following this suggestion, the Charleston City Council was to decide by vote on whether to agree with the Commission on History’s decision.
On December 20, 2021, ABC News 13 reported, however, that a lawsuit had been filed against the city of Charleston for removing the statue. That suit was put forth by descendants of John C. Calhoun as well as members of the Ladies Calhoun Monument Association.
According to the suit, the monument was gifted to the city by the Ladies Calhoun Monument Association “in trust” in 1898 and that the Charleston City Council passed a resolution to receive the monument and “… watch over and keep it as a priceless treasure and sacred trust.”
The association also objects to the fact that the base of the monument was demolished and turned into rubble by the city after the statue’s removal.
A group called the American Heritage Association (AHA) plans to assist with legal fees, according to the group’s president, Brett Barry. “This is a South Carolina monument, paid for by South Carolinians, and it needs to stay in South Carolina,” stated Barry.
In addition, State Representative Lin Bennett of Charleston (Republican) plans to introduce a bill on the first day of the new session to cut millions in state funding to the City of Charleston if they move the monument to the LAXART Museum.
Charleston officials had planned to vote on the statue’s disposition at the January 11, Council meeting. That vote was postponed until further notice. It is believed that threat of the lawsuit filed against the Council, both corporately and individually, caused the Council to back-off from voting and attempting to remove the statue out of SC.
“Stonewall” Jackson statue
The decision was recently made by officials of Charlottesville, Virginia, to allow the LAXART Museum to purchase (unconfirmed) the famous “Stonewall” Jackson statue there for their exhibit, raising the ire of many supporters of Southern heritage. In addition to the “Stonewall” statue, LAXART claims it will display the Robert E. Lee statue removed from New Orleans in the Confederate exhibit. In the case of the Calhoun monument, the only exchange of money recorded is that the LAXART Museum would cover costs of transporting the statue. City officials have said the move to LAXART would be temporary if granted.
Thus far, actions taken by the Charleston City Council have removed the John C. Calhoun statue against the wishes of the majority of the city citizens. The statue has been held in trust since June 1896. The Council is also responsible for the destruction of the base of the monument which was destroyed by the wrecking and removal crew they employed. The Council had “no comment” concerning the monument or its removal.
A number of radical leftist groups have been pushing over the past year and a half to have all Confederate and many national statues of founding fathers removed from the American landscape. These have included such radical Marxist-led groups as Black Lives Matter backed by NFAC/New Black Panthers, members of Antifa and the Anarchist Party.
Lisa Carol Rudisill, M.T.S., is a magna cum laud graduate of NC State University and Liberty University where she earned a Master of Theology. She writes novels about her family history during the Civil War in North and South Carolina. She is a freelance writer, editorialist and a contributor to The Standard newspaper.
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