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submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by TrippyFocus@lemmy.ml to c/til@lemmy.ca

Gutzon Borglum was the sculptor and was involved with the KKK. He was chosen because he was the sculptor of the "Shrine to the Confederacy” which was the inspiration for Mount Rushmore.

Guess it shouldn’t be too surprising given the way the land was taken from the local tribes despite it being sacred.

Credit to this comment by u/alcoholicorn that drove me to look it up.

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[-] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 16 points 2 years ago

Holy shit. No wonder Trump loves it so much.

[-] kandoh@reddthat.com 15 points 2 years ago

I wonder if restoration of the Mountain is possible

[-] Faydaikin@beehaw.org 7 points 2 years ago

Turning it back into a regular looking mountain side? I think that ship has sailed.

[-] tacosanonymous@lemm.ee 7 points 2 years ago

I’m willing to try. Could just use some trebuchets and see how it goes. Maybe a lil dynamite as a treat.

[-] kandoh@reddthat.com 1 points 2 years ago

I mean — it was a sacred mountain, so I presume it looked interesting and not just 'regular'.

[-] Faydaikin@beehaw.org 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

There are pictures of it before the carving.

Though I agree it's a shame to deface nature the way it was, the label of "sacred" is usually attributed to perfectly mundane things in order to make them special.

The Americas are home to some ridiculously beautiful landscapes. I'd be equally appalled if someone had carved the faces into a part of the Grand Canyon.

[-] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 13 points 2 years ago

[off topic]

'Black Hills' by Dan Simmons. Cool little novel about a Native working on the construction of Mt. Rushmore.

[-] araneae@beehaw.org 10 points 2 years ago

The whole project was essentially about destroying a culturally significant landmark. The KKK connection isn't a coincidence, we built Rushmore to break a people's heart.

[-] LadyMeow@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 2 years ago

The respectthedead podcast did one on him, super fascinating

[-] John_McMurray@lemmy.ca 6 points 2 years ago

Yeah him and like 7 million other Americans back then.

this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2024
217 points (96.2% liked)

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