Thompson divides monument removal into two categories. “Unless we are rich enough to pay for a monument and powerful enough to put it in a public space, American monuments were built to show us our place within national hierarchies of power.” For students, lay audiences, and newcomers to the conversation, this book is an accessible primer for the long history of monument raising-and razing-in the United States, even if it does not offer a clear path toward resolution. “If you’re reading this and thinking that monuments aren’t important to you, you’re wrong,” Thompson writes. In her new book, Erin Thompson, a professor of art crime in the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York, offers a window into this fascinating history.Īnchored in ongoing protests to remove symbols of racial injustice, Smashing Statues is uncompromising in prose and urgent in tone. 288 pp., $15.95 (paperback)Īmerica’s founding promise of justice and equality for all has long coexisted with public art that promotes racially exclusive visions. Smashing Statues: The Rise and Fall of America’s Public Monuments by Erin L. Unintended consequences threaten ongoing harm Protesters during the Summer of 2020 attempt to pull down the statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square near the White House (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
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