The Women's Rights Pioneers Monument in Central Park

In a time when so much seems to be disposable or on the eve of destruction, it's always heartwarming to see something new being built -- and built to last -- even it's just something as simple as a monument.

Monuments are the subject of much controversy these days, especially in the South where monuments to Confederate generals and icons are being gradually removed. Here in NYC, the controversy hasn't been about what monuments have been erected as much as about which ones haven't been -- namely monuments to women and people and color.

That changed, a least a bit, this week with the unveiling of the Women's Rights Pioneers Monument in Central Park. It features three three leading suffragettes in American history -- Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The three of them, in very different ways, helped give voice to previously voiceless women and helped them win the right to vote.

But there's been controversy about them -- and thus this monument. Sojourner Truth was the leading black women's voice of her day ("Ain't I a woman?") but Anthony and Stanton, while strong women's advocates, were virulent racists who believed that only white people -- male or female -- should be allowed to vote. Sadly the suffragette movement was, like so much of American history, deeply racist and divided. This monument's development mirrors this chequered past -- originally only Anthony and Stanton were going to be part of the monument until objections forced Truth's inclusion. 

Yet here it is. And it's a good thing too! In my opinion, when it comes to monuments, all Confederate monuments should be torn down and all new ones should be dedicated to women and people of color. It's about damn time!