This is a thorough article and treatment of the subject. I think Billy Graham should be a representative of North Carolina in Statuary Hall for the reason you stated including the questionable items.
Many will dismiss many of Billy Graham's statements as him only being a "man of his times."
My response to that is always: There were men of those times who said and did the right things as it related to racial justice.
Exactly. The "man of their time" argument also has to account for people of that same time period who stood up for justice. Were they not also people of their time?
I have to process this post a bit. While I appreciate a more realistic picture of Billy Graham, I would have a hard time personally arguing against the placement of his statue.
Understandable. That's why I felt it was important to state reasons why someone would be alright with it. But are folks excited or merely tolerant of this choice? While there will never be unanimity, the process in 2015 was rushed and did not have a debate in committee.
Jemar, I appreciate your taking time to respond and giving me time to process...I watched the dedication of the statue and am confirmed in my personal decision to celebrate rather than question the placement. I was particularly moved by Mike Johnson's comments at the beginning and end of the video below. Here is the link:
I agree with comments about Dr. Tisby’s thorough & fair handling of tough stuff! Dr. Tisby’s informative & thought-provoking post helps me better understand--including a puzzling exhibit in the Billy Graham Museum about his fighting communism.
I very much prefer the 3 names Dr. Tisby listed as a start--people as clear advocates for diverse representation & rights, whom I didn't know! For me, I don’t want BG honored in Statuary Hall due to his mixed legacy & his fam's continuation of exclusion of U.S. folks--including by preaching white Christian nationalist (wCN) priorities with white-centeredness. What if the Graham family invested in: honoring Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr, NC's marginalized Black communities, & the advocacy of Rev Dr. William J. Barber II to eradicate poverty? Please put the BG statue in their BG museum.
Personally, I lived in NC for a few years until 2020. I learned my work was in the area where the parents of Rev. Matthew Bone–who was the enslaver of Dr. Esau McCaulley’s ancestors–were born, raised & married, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/27/opinion/christianity-slavery-faith.html?smid=url-share. In 2020, the town displayed a confederate monument at the local courthouse; confederate flags waved from vehicles on the road; & another, new prison was built instead of providing resources for the local college. Students cried telling me about their losses of family members & dreams through incarceration, killings, working overnight in factories racing robots to provide for their kids as single Black mamas; & struggles taking college courses as Black students. White poverty isn’t the same as Black or Brown poverty. (Matthew Desmond, "Poverty, by America")
Visiting The Cove, BG Museum, & Samaritan’s Purse, I didn’t hear or see respect for U.S.' people of color--including as leaders or the local communities--except for employees serving. I noted aspects of wCN in all 3 & with "white savior" practices of superiority. I dined with a lone Black family who expressed misgivings & left early.
The BG statue doesn’t represent many former NC students nor myself, when a North Carolinian. I don’t see that BG lifted up Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr. & Dr. Tisby's writings clarified more for me.
And I’m very concerned about the BG statue's association with his family now preaching wCN: Cissy Graham Lynch at the Republican National Convention (https://youtu.be/I8kBwv-VjUg?feature=shared&t=7) & Franklin Graham's public support for the presidential candidate worshiped by wCNs. Both descendants have conflated politics & faith through empire ideology to pursue power (wCN--see Dr. Tisby's info & def). Personally, I confess my past with wCN & pray that the Graham Fam departs from it too.
I agree with Bryan. I remember in his later years Billy Graham expressed regret over some of his earlier ideas and affiliations, and I think his later statements should be writ large in his history.
What I remember most while growing up was, on his first visit to Soviet Russia, he came home and said something along the lines of "they have greater religious freedom there than we do here" -- which I myself observed when I visited the USSR a few years later. The press shredded him over that remark but he stood by it. He wasn't perfect but he was a man of integrity.
Having said all that, FWIW, I don't much like the statue shown... I would rather see a statue of him sitting on his porch at home with a Bible in hand.
He's a beloved figure to many and certainly a fixture in U.S. religion and politics. For someone who had such a long career in the spotlight, he was remarkably consistent in ways I think most would struggle to replicate.
My answer is “no.” I think the image of Billy Graham in statuary Hall, from the point of view of Christian nationalists, will be seen as support, encouragement, and approval for Christian nationalism, even for Christian nationalism violence.
Thank you, Lourine. You could choose worse people than Billy Graham, but were others deeply considered? It's worth asking especially because I hope they replace the NC statue of former governor and Confederate leader, Zebulon Vance.
That does get to the heart of the matter doesn't it? Is there actual thinking going on or just go along to get along to a virulent voice or two or three? I didn't know this guy ... sadly so many of them. Lord have mercy.
Regarding BG's apology for antisemitic remarks & the placement of the BG statue with white Christian Nationalism (wCN), I wonder about the stated "shared faith" & Trump's family. How did the 45th pres handle the antisemitic chanting at Charlottesville? Do wCNs consider Trump's Jewish family as part of the Jews who will be converted during the end times? (Christian Zionism, philosemitism) https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/u-s-jews-upset-with-trumps-latest-rhetoric-say-he-doesnt-get-to-tell-them-how-to-be-jewish
This is a thorough article and treatment of the subject. I think Billy Graham should be a representative of North Carolina in Statuary Hall for the reason you stated including the questionable items.
Many will dismiss many of Billy Graham's statements as him only being a "man of his times."
My response to that is always: There were men of those times who said and did the right things as it related to racial justice.
Exactly. The "man of their time" argument also has to account for people of that same time period who stood up for justice. Were they not also people of their time?
I have to process this post a bit. While I appreciate a more realistic picture of Billy Graham, I would have a hard time personally arguing against the placement of his statue.
Understandable. That's why I felt it was important to state reasons why someone would be alright with it. But are folks excited or merely tolerant of this choice? While there will never be unanimity, the process in 2015 was rushed and did not have a debate in committee.
Jemar, I appreciate your taking time to respond and giving me time to process...I watched the dedication of the statue and am confirmed in my personal decision to celebrate rather than question the placement. I was particularly moved by Mike Johnson's comments at the beginning and end of the video below. Here is the link:
https://billygraham.org/statue/?utm_source=Communications+5.15.2024&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Statuary+Hall+livestream&utm_content=BY245ESHS&SOURCE=BY245ESHS
I know that "where I am standing as a white male" determines what I see. So, I offer my thoughts in the hopes it will not offend you or your readers.
I agree with comments about Dr. Tisby’s thorough & fair handling of tough stuff! Dr. Tisby’s informative & thought-provoking post helps me better understand--including a puzzling exhibit in the Billy Graham Museum about his fighting communism.
I very much prefer the 3 names Dr. Tisby listed as a start--people as clear advocates for diverse representation & rights, whom I didn't know! For me, I don’t want BG honored in Statuary Hall due to his mixed legacy & his fam's continuation of exclusion of U.S. folks--including by preaching white Christian nationalist (wCN) priorities with white-centeredness. What if the Graham family invested in: honoring Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr, NC's marginalized Black communities, & the advocacy of Rev Dr. William J. Barber II to eradicate poverty? Please put the BG statue in their BG museum.
Personally, I lived in NC for a few years until 2020. I learned my work was in the area where the parents of Rev. Matthew Bone–who was the enslaver of Dr. Esau McCaulley’s ancestors–were born, raised & married, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/27/opinion/christianity-slavery-faith.html?smid=url-share. In 2020, the town displayed a confederate monument at the local courthouse; confederate flags waved from vehicles on the road; & another, new prison was built instead of providing resources for the local college. Students cried telling me about their losses of family members & dreams through incarceration, killings, working overnight in factories racing robots to provide for their kids as single Black mamas; & struggles taking college courses as Black students. White poverty isn’t the same as Black or Brown poverty. (Matthew Desmond, "Poverty, by America")
Visiting The Cove, BG Museum, & Samaritan’s Purse, I didn’t hear or see respect for U.S.' people of color--including as leaders or the local communities--except for employees serving. I noted aspects of wCN in all 3 & with "white savior" practices of superiority. I dined with a lone Black family who expressed misgivings & left early.
The BG statue doesn’t represent many former NC students nor myself, when a North Carolinian. I don’t see that BG lifted up Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr. & Dr. Tisby's writings clarified more for me.
And I’m very concerned about the BG statue's association with his family now preaching wCN: Cissy Graham Lynch at the Republican National Convention (https://youtu.be/I8kBwv-VjUg?feature=shared&t=7) & Franklin Graham's public support for the presidential candidate worshiped by wCNs. Both descendants have conflated politics & faith through empire ideology to pursue power (wCN--see Dr. Tisby's info & def). Personally, I confess my past with wCN & pray that the Graham Fam departs from it too.
You've done your homework! Thank you for sharing the significance of various sites and people in North Carolina.
I agree with Bryan. I remember in his later years Billy Graham expressed regret over some of his earlier ideas and affiliations, and I think his later statements should be writ large in his history.
What I remember most while growing up was, on his first visit to Soviet Russia, he came home and said something along the lines of "they have greater religious freedom there than we do here" -- which I myself observed when I visited the USSR a few years later. The press shredded him over that remark but he stood by it. He wasn't perfect but he was a man of integrity.
Having said all that, FWIW, I don't much like the statue shown... I would rather see a statue of him sitting on his porch at home with a Bible in hand.
He's a beloved figure to many and certainly a fixture in U.S. religion and politics. For someone who had such a long career in the spotlight, he was remarkably consistent in ways I think most would struggle to replicate.
My answer is “no.” I think the image of Billy Graham in statuary Hall, from the point of view of Christian nationalists, will be seen as support, encouragement, and approval for Christian nationalism, even for Christian nationalism violence.
That makes sense. If you look at the speeches and personnel supporting this decision they routinely conflate God and country and mix state and church.
As always I so appreciate how your writing is always even handed and fair Jemar. Thank you for this edifying post. Fully in agreement.
Thank you, Lourine. You could choose worse people than Billy Graham, but were others deeply considered? It's worth asking especially because I hope they replace the NC statue of former governor and Confederate leader, Zebulon Vance.
That does get to the heart of the matter doesn't it? Is there actual thinking going on or just go along to get along to a virulent voice or two or three? I didn't know this guy ... sadly so many of them. Lord have mercy.
Regarding BG's apology for antisemitic remarks & the placement of the BG statue with white Christian Nationalism (wCN), I wonder about the stated "shared faith" & Trump's family. How did the 45th pres handle the antisemitic chanting at Charlottesville? Do wCNs consider Trump's Jewish family as part of the Jews who will be converted during the end times? (Christian Zionism, philosemitism) https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/u-s-jews-upset-with-trumps-latest-rhetoric-say-he-doesnt-get-to-tell-them-how-to-be-jewish
Rhetoric: "communism" + "social justice flags" to replace "cross." Will Weissart, "Trump Tells Religious Broadcasters He’ll Defend Christianity Against Perceived Threats From the Left," AP, Feb 28, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/trump-2024-campaign-religious-broadcasters-convention-7f73f4b27451b514ae7d22093b20d40d?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share
Peter Smith, "Jesus is their Savior, Trump is Their Candidate. Ex-President’s Backers Say He Shares Faith, Values," AP, May 18, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/trump-christian-evangelicals-conservatives-2024-election-43f25118c133170c77786daf316821c3?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share
I would note that Billy Graham was homophobic. I think that is another strike against a statue of him being in Statuary Hall.
Yes. Many have also cited this as a reason NOT to include him in Statuary Hall.