Fox News hosts Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer questioned Friday the city of Chicago’s new monuments project being set up to “reevaluate” and consider the “racial history” of statues and monuments across the city.
Perino and Hemmer were joined on “America’s Newsroom” by Fox News reporter Carley Shimkus, who detailed Chicago’s plans for the project and some of the statues they would be reviewing. (RELATED: ‘Maybe Wokeness Has Finally Jumped The Shark’: Author Of Lincoln Novel Slams Removal Of Presidents’ Names From Schools)
“41 Chicago monuments are under review. Five of them are of Abraham Lincoln. In Illinois. The land of Lincoln. His statue might be removed from the city. Grant, President Grant, the man who led the Union army, won the Civil War, also named on the list. His statue might be removed,” Shimkus said.
“You know, over the summer statues were ripped down. It was violent. It was wrong. It was illegal. But I think equally troubling would be to have a group of professional people go through this months long process, look at the history of these men and what they represent to our country, and still decide to take these statues down,” she continued.
Chicago launched a website Wednesday seeking public feedback for its review of the statues and monuments. The launch of this public process follows the removal of two Christopher Columbus statues over the summer. In addition to Lincoln and Grant, other statues of past presidents made the list, including George Washington and William McKinley.
Shimkus went on to describe a previous interview on Fox with Cardinal Timothy Dolan, in which he described “memory and tradition” as “the vehicle of God’s revelation” and “to do anything to chip away at that tradition is perilous to the human project.”
“What that means is we’re all sinners. We’re all products of our time. But we should be allowed to celebrate the good parts of our country, and even the people who brought us to where we are today despite their flaws,” Shimkus said.
Hemmer then read a statement from Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot that this project would be a “powerful opportunity” for the city to “face our history” and “how we memorialize that history.”
Shimkus pointed out that this could be a period in the U.S. where the upcoming generations might not think of the founding fathers and other historical American figures the same way or be taught about them the same way. “I say more statues, not less, not fewer. More opinions. More ideas. Not less,” she said.
“I tell you, if they start canceling these American presidents they’re going to come after Bible characters next. Mark my words,” Hemmer concluded.