WANT THOMAS JEFFERSON, HIS
STATUE OUTSIDE THE STUDENT
CENTER REMOVED BECAUSE OUR
NATION'S THIRD PRESIDENT
OWNED SLAVES.
AND LAST YEAR THE CITY OF
NEW ORLEANS REMOVED SEVERAL
CONFEDERATE STATUES.
HERE IS WHAT NEW ORLEANS
DEMOCRAT MAYOR MITCH
LANDRIEU HAD TO SAY ABOUT
THIS ISSUE EARLIER TODAY.
>> YOU CAN'T CHANGE HISTORY
BY TAKING A STATUE DOWN.
YOU ARE JUST MOVING IT TO
ANOTHER PLACE.
THESE STATUES PROMINENT
PLACES AND REFLECT FOUR
YEARS OF NEW ORLEANS 300
YEARS HISTORY CROWDING OUT
ALL OF THE OTHER HISTORY.
>> Laura: JOINING ME NOW FOR
REACTION IS CORRESPONDENT AT
LARGE GERALDO RIVERA AUTHOR
OF THE GERALDO SHOW A MEMOIR
AND WITH ME HERE ON SET IS
FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST
GEE AN KNOW CALDWELL.
MITCH LANDRIEU ALSO A HAD A
NUMBER OF STATUES REMOVED IN
THE DARK OF NIGHT.
THEY HAVE BEEN THERE A LONG
TIME.
WORTH MULTIMILLION DOLLARS
AND WE DON'T KNOW WHERE MOST
OF THEM ARE.
P.C. BEAUREGARD AND OTHER
STATUES ARE JUST GONE.
WHAT'S YOUR TAKE ON THIS?
IS THIS THE RIGHT WAY TO
HANDLE THESE HISTORICAL
MONUMENTS?
>> PUTTING ASIDE WHAT'S
HAPPENING IN NEW ORLEANS.
AND I REALLY DO LIKE MAYOR
LANDRIEU.
I THINK IS HE A VERY
THOUGHTFUL MAN.
I THINK HIS FAMILY HAS REAL
ROOTS.
REAL CRED WHEN IT COMES TO
NEW ORLEANS AND LOUISIANA
HISTORY GENERALLY SPEAKING.
REMEMBER, LAURA, I RESIGNED
FROM MY FELLOWSHIP AT YALE
UNIVERSITY A YEAR OR SO AGO
WHEN THEY CHANGED THE NAME
TAKING JOHN C. CALHOUN'S
NAME OFF THE COLLEGE AND
NAMING IT FOR MORE
CONTEMPORARY PERSON.
I FEAR WHEN HISTORY STARTS
BEING REWRITTEN CONSTANTLY
THROUGH THE PRISM OF
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS AND
CONTEMPORARY THOUGHT, THAT
WE RISK CUTTING OURSELVES
OFF FROM OUR ROOTS.
I ABSOLUTELY GET THAT
SLAVERY, THIS ABOMINATION IS
DIFFERENT THAN A LOT OF
THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN
POLITICAL LIFE.
THIS IS SOMETHING LIKE THE
HOLOCAUST, THAT CAN'T BE
FORGIVEN BUT I THINK THAT TO
TRY AND CONTINUALLY REWRITE
HISTORY, JEFFERSON WAS A
SLAVE OWNER.
SO WAS GEORGE WASHINGTON.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THE
ENTIRE FIRST THIRD OF OUR
HISTORY IS CUT OFF OR IN
SOME WAY COVERED UP, LAURA?
>> WELL, THERE IS LEVELS, AS
I SEE IT.
YOU HAVE THE CONFEDERATE
STATUES.
ONES OF GENERALS AND IF YOU
LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF THE
GENERALS, MOST OF THOSE
GUYS, THEY WERE MILITARY,
GENERALLY SPEAKING AND THAT
WAS PRETTY MUCH IT.
SO HAVE YOU GOT THESE
STATUES IN PUBLIC SQUARES OF
INDIVIDUALS WHO FOUGHT TO
REALLY DIVIDE OUR COUNTRY.
AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT FROM
THAT PERSPECTIVE IT GIVES A
GREATER DEGREE OF
UNDERSTANDING WHY STATUES
LIKE THAT REALLY SHOULD BE
IN MUSEUMS.
NOW WHEN IT COMES TO
SOMEBODY LIKE THOMAS
JEFFERSON, FOR EXAMPLE, HE
IS MUCH MORE THAN A SLAVE
OWNER.
THAT WAS A PAST OF HIS.
SOMEBODY WHO CREATED HAD A
HAND IN CREATING THE
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
HE SAID ALL MEN ARE CREATED
EQUAL AND IN ADDITION TO
THAT HE WAS THE PRESIDENT.
HE WAS A GOVERNOR.
HE WAS A SECRETARY OF STATE.
SO, THIS IS AN INDIVIDUAL I
THINK THAT WE CAN CELEBRATE.
ALTHOUGH HE DID HAVE PAST
SINS.
THESE OTHER INDIVIDUALS,
HOWEVER, THEIR PAST SINS WAS
THE MAJORITY OF THEIR CAREER
FROM THE VIEWNT OF
FROM THE VIEWPT OF
FROM THE VIEWPOIOF
FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF HAVING
CONFEDERATE --
>> Laura: GENERAL BEAUREGARD
DID SO MUCH AFTER THE WAR.
HE HELPED BUILD SCHOOLS FOR
MINORITY CHILDREN AND CAN
MINORITY CHILDREN AND DAN
MINORITY CHILDREN AND DID SO
MUCH WORK TO BRING THE
FABRIC OF THE COMMUNITY
TOGETHER.
I MEAN, HE IS A BEE LOVED
PERSON POST WAR.
SO, YES, SINS OF SLAVERY,
HORRIFIC.
AN ENTIRE LIFE SPAN, MAYBE
NOT SO MUCH WITH EVERYONE.
I AGREE WITH GERALDO THAT
PAINTING EVERY HISTORICAL
FIGURE LIVING IN THE SOUTH
AT THE TIME AND MIGHT HAVE
FOUGHT IN THE WAR BRUSH OF
TAKE HIM AWAY, TAKE HIM AWAY
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.
PUTS IT SOMEWHERE WHERE WE
DON'T EVEN KNOW DOES NOT
SERVE US ALL THAT WELL.
I'M NOT A BLACK PERSON.
I DON'T KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO
WALK BY ONE OF THESE STATUES
AND MAYBE YOU ARE TOLD THIS
PERSON HATED YOU AND DIDN'T
THINK YOU WERE A REAL
PERSON.
I CAN'T IMAGINE THAT.
BUT, I DO THINK THAT PEOPLE
WHO ESPECIALLY WORKED FOR
RECONSTRUCTION OR
FORGIVENESS FOR BRINGING AND
HEALING THE COUNTRY,
ESPECIALLY THOSE PEOPLE, I
THINK WE ARE ON A REAL
SLIPPERY SLOPE IF WE START
SAYING LIKE, LOOK, HOFSTRA
STUDENTS WERE SERIOUS.
THEY WERE SERIOUS AT
PRINCETON ABOUT WOODROW
WILSON A GREAT
INTERNATIONALIST.
DEMOCRAT HERO.
WOODROW WILSON HAS TO GO OFF
THE WILSON CENTER.
THIS IS WHAT ONE OF THE
HOFSTRA STUDENTS SAID ON FOX
NEWS THE RIGHT TO PEACEFUL
PROTEST AND ASSEMBLY IS AT
THE CORE OF OUR DEMOCRACY.
HOFSTRA SUPPORTS OUR
STUDENT'S RIGHTS TO ENGAGE
IN PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATIONS
ABOUT
DEOUT
DEMOT
DEMONSTRATIONSABOUT ISSUES THATM
DEMONSTRATIONSABOUT ISSUES THATT
DEMONSTRATIONSABOUT ISSUES THATE
DEMONSTRATIONSABOUT ISSUES THATR
DEMONSTRATIONSABOUT ISSUES THATT
DEMONSTRATIONSABOUT ISSUES THATO
THEM.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO CIVIL
DISCUSSION ON THE SUBJECT.
THAT'S WHAT THEIR STATEMENT
WAS TO FOX NEWS.
IT LOOKS LIKE GROUPS OF
STUDENTS MOBILIZED AT
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY NOT
SUCCESSFULLY YET, BUT I
THINK IT'S A MATTER OF TIME
BEFORE THOMAS JEFFERSON GETS
PUT IN THAT SAME PLACE AS
AMERICAN PRESIDENTS
INCLUDING FDR HAILED AS ONE
OF THE GREATEST GENERALS WE
HAVE EVER HAD.
ONE OF THE GREATEST
CHRISTIANS GENTLEMEN WE HAVE
EVER HAD.
THAT'S FDR'S COMMEMORATION
OF ROBERT E. LEE.
THIS IS A WILD TERRITORY WE
ARE IN.
I DON'T KNOW WHERE IT ENDS,
GUYS.
>> I WOULD HAVE TO DISAGREE
WITH THAT.
I THINK IT'S A SLIPPERY
SLOPE IF WE ARE CONTINUING
TO PUT THESE INDIVIDUALS,
THESE CONFEDERATE GENERALS
IN SIMILAR CATEGORIES AS
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
THEY ARE NOT IN SIMILAR
CATEGORIES AS THOMAS
JEFFERSON.
YOU HAVE INDIVIDUALS WHO
REALLY FOUNDED OUR COUNTRY,
CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES.
YOU TALK ABOUT ROBERT E.
LEE, DEMOCRAT WHO LIVED TO
DESTROY THE FABRIC OF OUR
VERY COUNTRY.
YET.
>> Laura: HE DIDN'T OWN
SLAVES HIS WIFE DID THOUGH.
>> AFRICAN-AMERICANS SEE
THIS AS A PROBLEM BECAUSE
YOU SEE MANY THAT CELEBRATE
THIS.
AND NOT PUT IT IN ITS PROPER
CATEGORIZATION.
IF YOU WANT TO PUT IT IN A
