26 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 24, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
THE QUEENS
editorial
PUBLISHER & EDITOR
CO-PUBLISHER
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
VP, EVENTS, WEB & SOCIAL MEDIA
ART DIRECTOR
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
STAFF REPORTERS
CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS
ASSISTANT TO PUBLISHER
CLASSIFIED MANAGER
CONTROLLER
PRESIDENT & CEO
VICE PRESIDENT
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
BOB BRENNAN
ROBERT POZARYCKI
AMY AMATO-SANCHEZ
NIRMAL SINGH
EMILY DAVENPORT
KATRINA MEDOFF, ANTHONY GIUDICE, ANGELA MATUA
SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI
DEBORAH CUSICK
CELESTE ALAMIN
MARIA VALENCIA
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361
718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441
www.qns.com
editorial e-mail: editorial@qns.com
for advertising e-mail: ads@qns.com
Entire Contents Copyright 2017 by The Queens Courier
All letters sent to THE QUEENS COURIER should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should
include a full address and home and offi ce telephone numbers, where available, as well as affi liation, indicating
special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, AS WELL AS OP-ED PIECES IN NO WAY REFLECT THE PAPER’S POSITION.
No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE QUEENS COURIER. The
publishers will not be responsible for any error in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the
error. Errors must be reported to THE QUEENS COURIER within fi ve days of publication. Ad position cannot be
guaranteed unless paid prior to publication. Schneps Communications assumes no liability for the content or
reply to any ads. The advertiser assumes all liability for the content of and all replies. The advertiser agrees to hold
THE QUEENS COURIER and its employees harmless from all cost, expenses, liabilities, and damages resulting
from or caused by the publication or recording placed by the advertiser or any reply to any such advertisement.
EAST RIVER NIGHT WALKS IN ASTORIA // PHOTO VIA INSTAGRAM @scottshrake
Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper!
To submit them to us, tag @qnsgram on Instagram, visit our Facebook page, tweet @QNS
or email editorial@qns.com (subject: Queens Snaps).
Statue debate is more than meets the eye
It’s been 151 years since the Civil War ended, and yet in 2017, there are a
number of our fellow Americans who are coming to the defense of long-dead
and defeated Confederate fi gures.
Th ey object to a nationwide movement to have statues bearing the likenesses
of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jeff erson Davis removed from
public parks and plazas. Th is movement seeks, in the mind of its supporters,
to end the glorifi cation of historical fi gures who rebelled against the United
States government largely to defend the indefensible practice of slavery.
Th e movement has picked up steam since the Aug. 12 episode in
Charlottesville, VA, when neo-Nazis in town to protest the proposed removal
of a Robert E. Lee statue clashed with counter-protesters.
In New York, for example, lawmakers are moving to have the names of
Confederate generals removed from streets in military bases, and Governor
Andrew Cuomo wants the busts of Confederate fi gures removed from public
schools and universities.
From pundits to letter-writers, however, many have come to the defense of
Confederate statues. Th ey claim that removing them from public places constitutes
an eff ort to “erase history.” Th is mimics one of President Trump’s
talking points; he asked the press at an Aug. 15 conference why there was
no eff ort to remove George Washington’s statues since he owned slaves —
drawing a false equivalence between one of our nation’s founding fathers
and those who sought to break away from the republic Washington founded.
Th e fact that we’re re-litigating the roles of Confederate leaders all these
years later is a sad commentary on the state of our republic — and a very
good reason, in and of itself, as to why those statues need to come down. Aft er
all this time, as far as we’ve moved as a society, we should know better than to
glorify those who fought to split our nation and defend racism.
For those concerned about the preservation of history, we remind them
that history is not taught in statues alone. Th e Civil War is taught in every
school in the country. Th ere are entire museums, battlefi elds and library
bookshelves across this nation dedicated to the bloody confl ict. Th ese paths
of education are the most eff ective way to learn about the past as it was, not
as we want it to be.
Th e white supremacists and neo-Nazis want to use the Confederate statues
as rallying points by which to advance their ignorant cause. Our nation
fought a civil war and a world war to stop their brand of bigotry. Getting rid
of the statues won’t eliminate white supremacy, but it will bring us another
step closer to stamping it out for good.
STORY: Driver seriously injured after his car smashes into a tree on
the Jackie Robinson Parkway in Queens
SUMMARY: Police are investigating a crash that left a man in serious
condition on the Jackie Robinson Parkway in Glendale that left a man
with serious injuries.
REACH: 12,169 people (as of 8/21/17)
