Amid protests across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death, a University of Alabama at Birmingham professor provided a step-by-step guide along with a figure drawing explaining how protesters can “topple” Confederate monuments.
Sarah Parcak, a well-known archaeologist who received a Guggenheim fellowship in 2020, shared on Sunday “handy” information about how to destroy public property she considered “racist.”
“PSA For ANYONE who might be interested in how to pull down an obelisk* safely from an Egyptologist who never ever in a million years thought this advice might come in handy,” Parcak tweeted. “*might be masquerading as a racist monument I dunno,” she added.
PSA For ANYONE who might be interested in how to pull down an obelisk* safely from an Egyptologist who never ever in a million years thought this advice might come in handy
*might be masquerading as a racist monument I dunno
— Sarah Parcak (@indyfromspace) June 1, 2020
Parcak tweeted the information a day after hundreds of protesters in Richmond targeted the Confederate monuments of Robert E. Lee, Jeb Stuart, and Jefferson Davis along Monument Avenue in the Virginia capital. The statues were tagged with spray paint, and a noose was hung around the statue of Davis, the first and only president of the Confederacy.
Parcak said the protesters would need “150+ ft of rope x 2” and they would need to stand at least 30 feet away from the object for safety.
“You have two groups, one on one side, one opposite, for the rope beneath the pointy bit and the rope 1/3 down,” Parcak tweeted. “You will need to PULL TOGETHER BACK AND FORTH. You want to create a rocking motion back and forth to ease the obelisk from its back.”
You have two groups, one on one side, one opposite, for the rope beneath the pointy bit and the rope 1/3 down. You will need to PULL TOGETHER BACK AND FORTH. You want to create a rocking motion back and forth to ease the obelisk from its back.
— Sarah Parcak (@indyfromspace) June 1, 2020
Parcak cheered on protesters who defaced property during the five days of nationwide demonstrations and told her followers to “celebrate” once they have toppled the statues, which she said represented “racism and white nationalism.”
“WATCH THAT SUMBITCH TOPPLE GET THE %^&* OUT OF THE WAY IT WILL SMASH RUN AWAY FROM DIRECTION,” she tweeted. “Then celebrate. Because #BlackLivesMatter and good riddance to any obelisks pretending to be ancient Egyptian obelisks when they are in fact celebrating racism and white nationalism.”
The Alabama professor said she did not want people to pull down actual ancient Egyptian obelisks before posting a “rough schematic” showing people how they could work together to push over a monument. Parcak added that protesters should not pull down the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.
Here’s a rough schematic. I note this is experimental archaeology in action! Just my professional Hot Take and you may need more people, longer rope, etc. everything depends on monument size. pic.twitter.com/lzl55CSPNt
— Sarah Parcak (@indyfromspace) June 1, 2020
The University of Alabama at Birmingham issued a disclaimer, saying her tweets don’t represent “the opinions of the university.”
