Empty Pedestals uses a design perspective to explore how monuments to the Confederacy speak to regionalism, racist political agendas, and residual collective pain. Many designers and artists working in the public realm have created innovative projects to replace Confederate memorials, contextualize those that still stand, and foster new conversations about history, race, and justice in America. By drawing lessons from these initiatives and considering the questions that remain, editors Kofi Boone and M. Elen Deming hope to assist educators and students in combating endemic prejudice and other forms of social division.
For more than a century, the endurance of Confederate monuments, street names, and other memorials in the United States has permitted proponents to establish false and oppressive arguments in defense of so-called historic preservation. The continued presence of these objects maintains symbolic forms of systemic injustice, exclusionary policies and practices, and erasure of the stories, memories, and values of marginalized populations in the American South. While many of these monuments have been taken down since 2017, they account for only a small percentage of the overall number of Confederate relics on public display.
Boone and Deming, along with the volume's fourteen contributors, strive to elevate novel frameworks and shared solutions for the issues that continue to trouble American cultural landscapes. Above all, Empty Pedestals lifts up the voices of people who have confronted hateful narratives and devised strategies that stand up to, and apart from, old mythologies. If and when oppressive symbols such as Confederate monuments are permanently eliminated, design alternatives such as those presented here may offer healing in shared spaces, healthier social discourse, and stronger community resilience.
Industry Reviews
"Through the diverse and transdisciplinary lenses of the essay authors, Kofi Boone and M. Elen Deming's excellent excavation of the meanings and narratives surrounding Confederate monuments shows that 'what you see--and what they mean--depends very much on who you are.' Importantly, the book aims to (re)center public design initiatives in local and historical contexts to help reclaim public spaces and their narratives."--Julian Agyeman, professor of urban and environmental policy and planning at Tufts University "The editors' multidisciplinary approach, coupled with the effort to foreground Black voices, sets Empty Pedestals apart from so many others that have attempted to explore the Lost Cause. . . . the use of numerous plates throughout the volume and the copious full-color illustrations make this vibrant volume especially attractive."--Journal of Southern History "Empty Pedestals grapple with past and present to show how the possibility of--and, in effect, the reality of--commemorative landscapes shaped by the subjugation and oppression of Black people can be "un-fixed" or undone. . . . As monuments are removed and empty pedestals are left standing, the built environment takes on a new patina--one of justice and hope. . . . Highly recommended."--CHOICE "Empty Pedestals is a profound collection of essays exploring the presence of polarizing monuments and their impact on the public psyche. The book should be read by all who desire to understand the qualities of civic space and new approaches to commemorative landscapes founded in acknowledgment of our shared but challenging history."--Diane Jones Allen, professor and director of the landscape architecture program at the University of Texas at Arlington "Symbols matter. They can inspire us or challenge us. Empty Pedestals is an in-depth examination of how symbols, and the spaces they occupy, relate to our communities, and in turn, how communities have responded to them. This engaging book captures the zeitgeist of our nation's recent reckoning with our complex history."--Scott Hutcheson, executive director, E Pluribus Unum
