Historic monuments in America have ignited controversy over the last couple years. Last week, some merry prankster took a more lighthearted approach when humorously defacing a statue of Nathanael Greene, a Revolutionary War hero.
But city officials in Savannah, Georgia, said the prank was no laughing matter.
ÛÏWHO DID THIS?!Û _ÙÔÛ | The City of Savannah is looking for the person who ÛÏvandal-eyezedÛ a historic monument. They say someone put googly eyes on the Nathanael Greene statue in Johnson Square. They donÛªt think itÛªs funny and want to find the #GooglyEyeBandit _ÙÔÛ@WRDW_WAGT pic.twitter.com/eSlBUaJifD
— Jason Raven (@JasonWRDW) October 12, 2018
To be fair, Nathanael Greene doesn’t deserve the same kind of ridicule as Robert E Lee or any Confederate leader who fought for the right to keep slaves. And while this was undeniably funny, city officials cautioned that vandalizing public property is illegal.
But still!
Googley eyes rule. Twitter thinks the vandal actually IMPROVED the monument.
Now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of their country and put googly eyes on every Confederate monument, all across this great land.
— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) October 13, 2018
Gosh, it would be such a shame if people glued googly eyes to every Confederate monument throughout the states, now wouldn’t it? I’d “hate” that…please, people, “don’t” do it…_Ù÷ https://t.co/6fYBC0Ch1h
— Bonnie North (@BonnieNorthGP) October 13, 2018
“Where did you get those awesome googly eyes”
“Can you do this to other statues”
“How can we help” https://t.co/K0KVuPD6tr— jon frozenbergã÷Ê (@jonrosenberg) October 13, 2018
And so it begins. https://t.co/Me41eyv7Sq
— Dr Adam Rutherford (@AdamRutherford) October 13, 2018
One Twitter user made a pretty good point about Nathanael Greene’s slave ownership.
Nathanael Greene owned enslaved people. he can get these googly eyes https://t.co/LCkwexYccN
— wikipedia ÛÏseasonal halloween nameÛ brown (@eveewing) October 14, 2018
Sadly, a lot of people mistook Greene’s statue as a confederate monument.
Alright, so apparently Twitter needs a history lesson. Nathanael Greene died a hundred years before the confederacy was formed.
Googly eyes really tie confederate statues together.
— Jeremy Taggart (@Taggart7) October 14, 2018
He he he. Someone put googly eyes on a Georgia statue of a Confederate general.https://t.co/gwwTRC4Jnh
— Brian Angliss (@bangliss) October 14, 2018
kickstarter to fund googly eyes for all Confederate statues
— AltBronte (@AltBronte) October 14, 2018
Putting googly eyes on a confederate monument so that it appears to watch you is a profound statement though. Way to go, unknown culprit who probably just thought it was funny.
— JinÛªs pink crocs _ÙÎ (@failonade) October 14, 2018
Still, some imagined a world where all confederate statues had googley eyes.
Artist’s rendering of the Fort Myers Robert E. Lee statue, improved with the addition of googly eyes. pic.twitter.com/wUjnNmJE3z
— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) October 13, 2018
Regardless of the politics involved, most agree googley eyes are just plain awesome.
Googly eyes make everything better. pic.twitter.com/LNyckSZeEN
— ÏÙÄ_Ä_âÀÄ_â»Ä_Ä (@the8o8) October 13, 2018
googly eyes are the BEST _Ù_£ pic.twitter.com/oVO6IPSHMG
— shari tagliabue (@sharitags) October 13, 2018
Googly eyes in the wrong hands can be dangerous. This happened in my quiet and totally normal town. pic.twitter.com/L7nmUrdbTz
— Amie Gillingham (@gillie) October 13, 2018
Now, where was that Christopher Columbus statue?
