Honoring Mary McLeod Bethune

So much bad news, I can't write about all or any of it. Instead, a piece of good news.

A statue of Mary McLeod Bethune was unveiled yesterday, which will be installed in the National Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol to represent the state of Florida. Her statue will replace one removed in 2021 that honored Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith (who seems like a very run-of-the-mill general, I have to say: an pedestrian choice, even for a Confederate).

Sounds like a great trade up.

This story from WBUR gives the basics on McLeod Bethune. I knew she was a giant of 20th century Black women leaders and Black leaders generally, but I either didn't know or had forgotten a lot of details about her.  

In general, I think it's an odd idea to honor just one or two people per state. But if we're going to do it in our most important buildings, there should be some consciousness that the people honored can't stay the same forever, especially when white men were the only ones allowed to do anything worth public honor for hundreds of years.