You can learn a lot about a culture through its statuary.

In fact, statuary is a guide to what and whom the society values most.

Walk through any park in Europe and America and the monuments to the most distinguished persons (almost all men) are on full display. It may be statesman, pioneers, philosophers, artists, authors or saints.

These are the personages that reflect the true spirit behind the culture. The plaques below the statue explain who these men were and why they are held in high esteem. Children remember history more vividly through statues than books. Not to mention the power of religious statuary inside and outside the churches of old. Tourists still flock to the Vatican to get a glimpse of Michelangelo’s La Pietà and to Florence to see his David. The medieval churches were adorned with statues inside and out; too many to count. Their presence was meant to inspire.

Fast forward to today. We see mobs of the uneducated and unappreciative narcissists tearing down these statues that had been revered for centuries.

What happened? These statues went from venerated icons of a noble past to despised representations of what? The unanimous cry from the mob was “down with the racist white man.” Never mind what any of these figures thought about slavery in their own times. It was enough that they existed during slavery. For the mob, the mere existence of these men during and soon after slavery was enough to condemn them. No legacy of achievement could overcome the date of their birth.

The vast majority of current statuary are statues of athletes.

Visit any big city and see a parade of favored athletes in bronze in front of the stadiums. Whatever the sport, you’ll see the players immortalized in action poses that emphasized their athletic prowess. It is no wonder that sports here in America are adored for the spectacle and the drama as they were in the last days of Rome. The heroes are legends and as such get statues of their own. The dusty old statues in the city parks of statesmen and pioneers are no longer bases for education. It is the sports legend that draws attention and admiration.

So be it. That is who we are as a society.

The unveiling this week in Los Angeles of the towering bronze monument to Kobe Bryant is a perfect illustration of the trajectory of our reverence for heroes, sports or otherwise.

Screen shot from Los Angeles Times video, via shareable YouTube

This statue, though, has crossed a line. Bryant is not shown in an athletic position befitting his splendid talents on the basketball court. His image is displayed standing at attention in a thinly veiled salute to black power. Only his curved fingers distinguish his pose from Tommie Smith’s black power salute in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico.

It is a shame that some people would coopt the image a very decent man and an incredibly talented athlete who had nothing to do with “Black Lives Matter,” or its antecedents to hype racial division. Olympic athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos used their only moment in the spotlight to make a political statement. What a shame that the stewards of Bryant’s legacy decided to link him with a political movement instead of highlighting his athletic wizardry.