>"Enthusiasm for the American Revolution led colonists to burn, disfigure, and deface any symbol of Britain and its hated king."
As 18th-century New Yorkers would learn, however, it proved relatively easy to tear down a symbol of oppression, but it took years of struggle to make that era’s entrenched authority reflect the will of the people. “They could execute the tyrant’s symbol in their towns and villages,” says McConville. “Ending the monarchy within each of them proved more difficult.” The ongoing effort to end racism—and live up to the aspirations of the Declaration of Independence—doubtless will prove just as challenging.