Given By Rev. Madison Shockley August 20, 2017
The events in Charlotteville and Trump’s response inspires today’s sermon. This began with the decision to remove the statue of Robert E. Lee from Emancipation Park. There are 731 Confederate monuments across America. The reading today speaks of Jacob using a stone as a pillow, dreaming of angels, and then marking this place as a monument to God. Monuments mark sacred places for us. We ask the question; what do these Confederate monuments mean? To those who rallied, it is a symbol of white supremacy. This policy has been around since the Pilgrims. Whites and blacks are born into a world where we are told whites are superior to all other races. It is up to us to change that message. After the Civil War, the South worked to assert white privilege back into society. They set up monuments to their heroes in order remind blacks who was still in charge. Luckily, today, people are beginning to realize what these statues represent, hate. These statues are beginning to come down. Mayor Mitch Landrieu spoke eloquently on this subject on May 19th. He spoke of how we can heal and gain understanding. We have statues that counter this message of hate. These are monuments of hope. Let these be our inspiration.