9/2/2020
Don’t Rename Jackson County — But Let’s Honor Royals Great Bo, Not Slave Owner Andrew
Breaking Newstags: sports, Andrew Jackson, public history, Bo Jackson
Andrew Jackson, the wealthy slave owner and champion of Native American genocide for whom Jackson County is named, was commonly known as “Old Hickory.” Who better to replace Old Hickory as the honoree of Jackson County than the all-time great athlete and Royals baseball star Bo Jackson, who routinely broke hickory baseball bats over his knee with ease?
This November, Jackson County residents will be tasked with determining the fate of several Jackson statues that have long adorned county buildings to honor the former president. Jackson’s legacy, which has been debated, has come under additional scrutiny as part of our nation’s public reckoning in the wake of protests that quickly spread across the country after the murders of Black Americans George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others.
Removing the statues, which deify a murderous figure, is simply removing lipstick from a pig. It lays bare the real question we should be asking: Why is the county named for Andrew Jackson?
Whether the electorate votes to remove the statutes or not this November, what everyone must struggle with is why Jackson County honors a flawed man who has had so little to do with its history. Luckily, there is a beloved Jackson whom an overwhelming number of Jackson Countians would support honoring.
Bo Jackson’s athleticism is one of the great legends in our country’s sporting history. A human highlight reel, he excelled professionally at baseball and football and became known for his multidisciplinary expertise. The famous “Bo Knows” Nike commercial campaign played off his ability to use his physical gifts to excel at any sport thrown at him.
comments powered by Disqus
News
- The Debt Ceiling Law is now a Tool of Partisan Political Power; Abolish It
- Amitai Etzioni, Theorist of Communitarianism, Dies at 94
- Kagan, Sotomayor Join SCOTUS Cons in Sticking it to Unions
- New Evidence: Rehnquist Pretty Much OK with Plessy v. Ferguson
- Ohio Unions Link Academic Freedom and the Freedom to Strike
- First Round of Obama Administration Oral Histories Focus on Political Fault Lines and Policy Tradeoffs
- The Tulsa Race Massacre was an Attack on Black People; Rebuilding Policies were an Attack on Black Wealth
- British Universities are Researching Ties to Slavery. Conservative Alumni Say "Enough"
- Martha Hodes Reconstructs Her Memory of a 1970 Hijacking
- Jeremi Suri: Texas Higher Ed Conflict "Doesn't Have to Be This Way"