Description
There is significant controversy surrounding the creation and existence of Mount Rushmore. To some it represents a patriotic tribute to four presidents and to American democracy but for many others it is a symbol of hate, oppression and fundamental unfairness. It was placed on misappropriated land taken through a broken treaty with Native Americans from the Lakota Tribe and its creator and designer, Gutzon Borglum, was a man with strong ties to the Ku Klux Klan hate group.
Borglum had earlier been the sculptor charged with designing the Stone Mountain carving in Georgia. That project was where Borglum developed and cemented his ties with the Ku Klux Klan. Fundraising for the Stone Mountain project was spearheaded by the group United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). They used the Reconstruction propaganda film “Birth of a Nation” and the Ku Klux Klan to raise money for the project. After Borglum was tapped to design the carving he became deeply involved with the Klan, fully endorsing their activities by attending rallies and even working on the Klan’s internal political actions.
The museum at Mount Rushmore displays a letter to Borglum from D.C. Stephenson, the infamous Klan Grand Dragon (A man later convicted of rape and murder) in which the he praised Borglum stating “To my good friend Gutzon Borglum, with the greatest respect." Correspondence from Borglum to Stephenson during the 1920s detailed a deep racist conviction in Nordic moral superiority and strict immigration policies.
FROM THE PETITION ON THE ACTION NETWORK...
The Mt. Rushmore carving is an international symbol of white supremacy and racial injustice, and represents the history of oppression of the Lakota Nation in their own homelands, the theft of Indigenous lands, and the continued erasure of Indigenous history, culture and people.
The Mt. Rushmore carving represents the active oppression of the Lakota Nation in their own homelands, the theft of Indigenous lands, and the continued erasure of Indigenous history, culture and people.
Standing in solidarity with our ancestors, families, our allies, and the Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires of Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Nations), we are calling on Director Bernhardt and Representative Deb Haaland to close Mt. Rushmore and return all Public lands in the Black Hills to the Oceti Sakowin as negotiated in the 1868 Treaty of Ft. Laramie, as Indigenous treaties are the supreme law of the land.
Further, we call upon all Americans to stand in solidarity with Indigenous communities and advocate for a world of justice and equity that honors diversity and BIPOC populations