Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

A Monumental Question: A Comparison Between The United States' And South Africa's Monument Debates, Page Benoit

Senior Projects Spring 2018

In the summer of 2017, Charlottesville Virginia became the focal point of the United States monument debate. The open racism and violence that transpired sparked the nation to re-evaluate its relationship to Confederate monuments and public spaces. Moving forward, the United States can choose to keep contentious monuments as they are, remove them, recontextualize them, relocate them or create new ones. Each choice changes the monument landscape to represent national identity in different ways. However, some choices are more successful at responsible diverse representation then others. This is evident because South Africa has been attempting to diversify their monument landscape …