Abstract
Maury for Modern Times: Navigating a Racist Legacy in Ocean Science
Highlights
In the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers in late May 2020, people around the United States and elsewhere launched protests to call attention to the mistreatment of African Americans and other people of color
What, ought ocean scientists and their historians, among others, do with this newfound awakening to Maury’s dual admirable and reprehensible legacies? Monuments, which reflect the values of their creators and time, “have an expiration date” and offensive ones should be removed or repurposed to teach something about the moment of their creation (Marcus and Woodward, 2020)
That distinction is offered in defense of retaining the name “Maury Hall” for the building at US Naval Academy (USNA), or for renaming it “Lt. Maury Hall” to clarify the intent to memorialize his pre-war scientific work (Donegan, 2020)
Summary
In the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers in late May 2020, people around the United States and elsewhere launched protests to call attention to the mistreatment of African Americans and other people of color. Protesters quickly expanded their goals to include removal of statues of prominent figures whose actions explicitly or implicitly supported the systemic racism that led to the current crisis, beginning with the long history of slavery with which the United States has insufficiently reckoned.
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