“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” is what Ronald Reagan — who was the 40th president of the United States — said to the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union at the Brandenburg Gate of the Berlin Wall on Friday, June 12, 1987 before most of it was torn down.
Tear Down This Wall. And This Fence. And That Wall. And That Fence…
The concrete wall separated — or better yet, physically and ideologically divided — the city of Berlin from Sunday, August 13, 1961 to Thursday, November 9, 1989, when citizens of the German Democratic Republic were given permission to freely visit what was known then as West Berlin and West Germany from what was then known as East Berlin and East Germany. Save for a remnant here and there, the Berlin Wall was otherwise completely demolished as of 1994.
One of the main goals of Donald Trump — who was the 45th president of the United States — was to erect a wall along the border which the United States shares with Mexico. You might have thought that this article was going to be about that wall.
You would be mistaken. Think again.
Ever since angry members of a mob swarmed and stormed the United States Capitol building in the District of Columbia on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 and caused damage — as well as resulted in a minimum of five fatalities and at least 140 injuries — a number of initiatives were implemented…
…including fencing off public buildings in which politicians work for their constituents — including the United States Capitol building itself.
However, that was not the only incident which occurred in 2020 as a result of what was otherwise supposed to be peaceful protests.
One example is the Colorado State Capitol Building in Denver, to which I traveled in December of 2020. During one of my past visits to Denver, I remembered the phrase “ONE MILE ABOVE SEA LEVEL” engraved on one of the exterior granite steps of the building, which purportedly denotes the exact point of one mile in altitude above sea level. I wanted to visit that step again, which would have taken all of a few minutes.
I could not do so, as a seemingly temporary fence enclosed the perimeter of the entire building — with no way for anyone to get to that step. People do travel from afar to have photographs taken of them on that step.
During the summer of 2020, at least $1.1 million worth of extensive damage to a minimum of 112 windows, 56 globes of light fixtures, eleven security cameras, eight gates, and three flag poles — as well as monuments and signage — were the result of chaos and vandalism, which is why the fence was erected. Cleaning off the graffiti alone — which was painted on the pourous granite surface of the building — costs at least $160,000.00.
At the time this article was written, none of the perpetrators have been charged or arrested for causing the damage.
The good news is that the building was undergoing restoration at that point anyway — but that is not the point.
Summary
Although buildings of significance should be protected as much as possible from damage, physically sealing off those buildings from the public is not the answer in what is supposed to be a free society. Fencing off these houses of the public sends a disturbing — and to some people, a frightening — visual message of the perception of an authoritarian government…
…and that is not what the United States is supposed to be about as a country and as what millions of people consider to be a symbol of freedom. These buildings belong to the citizens of this nation; and they should be reopened as soon as possible — along with smarter and more intelligent ways to protect these buildings without having to resort to perceived draconian measures.
People from all over the world travel to visit these buildings — including the United States Capitol building — and for now, they will likely be disappointed until the fences and barriers are removed.
Politicians, tear down this wall. And this fence. And that wall. And that fence…
Photograph ©2020 by Brian Cohen.
