Ulysses S Grant's statue toppled over by BLM protesters, angry Internet says he ‘freed a slave, hated slavery’
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: The death of George Floyd has sparked massive unrest all across the United States and Black Lives Matter protesters have taken to vandalizing statues of all Confederate symbols and men who were a proponent of slavery and racism. Amid all the fiasco, statues of Fr. Junipero Serra, Francis Scott Key, and Ulysses S Grant, were taken down at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
According to reports, a group of approximately 100 individuals took down the statuary around 8 or 9 pm, with several videos doing the round on social media. The toppling of the statues comes in the wake of Juneteenth, a holiday celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States.
"Nearby statue of Ulysses S. Grant is also toppled. He was a slave owner too, before the Civil War. That’s three for three this night," one tweet read along with a photo of the demolished statue. The Twitter thread further read: "Lots of folks inexplicably defending a slave owner on Juneteenth, so just to be clear: Grant owned a slave for about a year and married into a slave-owning family. If you’re defending the toppling of his statue on a day commemorating emancipation, ask yourself why."
However, if the pages of history books are turned over, Grant's focus on the Emancipation Proclamation comes into light and how he ordered the Union Army to include almost 40,000 former slaves and gave them clothes, shelter and wages for their services. Moreover, at one point in his life, he could barely put food on his family's table. Despite that, he appeared in court in 1859 and emancipated a slave he had purchased from his wife Julia's brother Fred instead of selling him.
Pointing out why his statue didn't deserve to be taken down, one said, "I want to reiterate, I do not care about statues in any way shape or form and I'm not upset that this statue is gone. BUT Ulysses S Grant only ever had one slave that was a gift from his father in law, and he freed that slave. He did not like slavery." The Twitter user added, "He also like, literally fought against slavery. Again I don't care about statues but this isn't the one y'all think it is." Another tweet said, "Also I'm not arguing he's a good person or anything maybe he did some bad s**t idk. But calling him a slave owner is kinda downplaying the truth here."
One tweet read: "Grant married into a slave-owning family and he was always against slaves. Grant’s father was vehemently opposed to slavery. Grant freed the slave his father in law gave him."
Another said, "Excellent point. Grant hated slavery." Another Twitter user joined him and said, "Grant was a patriot who was destroyed by corrupt factions. He was never rich and at one point had to cart wood from his farm to sell in town to feed his family. Shame." One even went on to say, "Crazy biz. My stepdad is a black MD & was named after Ulysses. Well just highlights why our youth is behind most of the world in education."
"He also refused to execute the leaders of the Confederacy which allowed the South to fester the idea that they were somehow justified in committing treason. The racial division in the country can be attributed to the slap on the wrist Grant gave to Confederate generals," one tweet read.