Let ‘Freedom’ replace Lee in Harmony Circle

By Robert L. “Bob” Livingston
Guest Columnist

The history of New Orleans, one of the oldest cities in the United States, is as colorful as any in the country. Founded by the French, ceded to the Spanish and then back to the French, and ultimately sold to the Americans, New Orleans is home to a great blend of nationalities and races.

Prior to the Civil War, New Orleans was the largest slave trade center in the country. Once war began in 1861, it took a year before Admiral David Farragut sailed up the Mississippi River, fighting his way past two Confederate forts before taking the city without firing another shot in April 1862. Union General Benjamin Butler placed New Orleans under federal control for the remainder of the war and blocked off the Confederacy’s access to river-borne trade.

Emancipation failed to end government-sanctioned abuse of African Americans, but the civil rights era in the 1950s and ’60s did much to move things forward. In fact, New Orleans played a major role in America’s struggle for civil rights in the 20th century. Martin Luther King Jr. founded his Southern Christian Leadership Conference at the New Zion Baptist Church in New Orleans on Feb. 14, 1957. Many other civil rights milestones occurred in New Orleans since then.

New Orleans continued to grow in the interim, but Hurricane Katrina inflicted widespread destruction in 2005. Our city struggled to get back on its feet. Federal money helped rebuild some local infrastructure, but a substandard education system and inadequate federal programs did little to alleviate the plight of New Orleans’ poorest citizens. Homelessness and crime accelerated and central planning ideas failed at every level.

The old Lee Circle, now called Harmony Circle, currently has no landmark to represent our city’s history, ideals and aspirations. I suggest we erect a monument in Harmony Circle that will inspire all New Orleanians to learn, work and strive for happier families in a unified city. I envision placing on the vacant pedestal in the center of Harmony Circle a statue that I propose we call “Freedom” – the same name attached to the statue atop the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

In the last decade, the city of New Orleans removed tributes to Confederate leaders on city property by taking down their statues, most visibly that of Robert E. Lee on Lee Circle. Regardless of how any of us felt about that decision, the time has come to put the past behind us. We cannot prosper, we cannot learn, we cannot move forward without a shared vision of our future – as one New Orleans.

As a longtime resident of New Orleans who has spent the last half-century in the public arena, I’d like to share my vision for a united city, a city that is determined to be the most culturally inclusive, joyful and vibrant city in the United States. To be that city, we must accept where we are and strive to do better. I believe we should begin with a simple but meaningful gesture: erecting a fitting tribute to our shared history with inspiration for the future.

I am not an artist or a sculptor, but I respectfully suggest – subject to public discussion and ultimate acceptance by the City Council – a statue of a young Black woman dressed in a simple smock with her right hand raised forward above her shoulder while holding a large book – a Bible – signifying devotion to God and to learning. Trailing behind her, her left hand would hold broken chains, signifying emergence from enslavement and freedom. Faith, education and freedom are essential to move us forward.

An American flag would drape one or both shoulders to show her love for America and our shared nation. Her right foot would lead her left, suggesting her race to the future, a better life for herself and for all of us in New Orleans.

This is my humble suggestion. Accepted or not, I hope it will begin a discussion that results in a revitalization of Harmony Circle – with “Freedom” as its centerpiece. Let’s begin that journey together, and may God bless us one and all!

Robert L. “Bob” Livingston represented much of metro New Orleans as a member of Congress from Louisiana’s 1st District from 1977-1999.

This article originally published in the July 10, 2023 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.