One thing that stuck out to me in this week’s lecture was the case study on Saddam Hussein’s statue being taken down. The lecture discussed the importance of knowing who is behind taking a statue down, as well as if it is planned or if it is an impulsive decision to destruct it. Upon further research, I discovered that there was a lot of backlash to this event, as many felt it was a staged photography opportunity. This reminded me of when the statue of Joe Paterno, the former head coach of Penn State’s football team, was taken down after the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. There were widespread calls for the statue to be removed, and eventually the president of the university issued a statement saying, “…I have decided it is in the best interest of our university and public safety to remove the statue.” I thought this was interesting because in this case, the president is taking responsibility; however, had there not been backlash and outcry from the public, I doubt the statue would have been removed. Thus, who was truly behind the toppling of Paterno’s statue? And further, what role does the public play in these decisions?
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