Confederate Statue Debate

As I am sure you have heard on the news recently, neo-nazi groups have been pushing their views into mainstream media. The most recent incident was in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a white supremacist/neo-nazi group marched in protest to removing a Robert E. Lee statue. The protest escalated quickly and resulted in one woman, Heather Heyer, being murdered and 30 others being injured. Here is a video summary of that incident:

In response to this tragedy, on August 16^th, 2017 four confederate statues were removed from Baltimore. The mayor of the city stated: “For me, the statues represented pain, and not only did I want to protect my city from any more of that pain, I also wanted to protect my city from any of the violence that was occurring around the nation. We don’t need that in Baltimore."

A confederate statue being removed.

Although these are very recent occurrences, the debate over the removal of confederate statues is not a new issue. In fact, Southern communities have been removing confederate statues since Dylann Roof, a white supremacist, murdered nine African Americans in attempt to start a “race war” in 2015. 

Those who oppose removing confederate statues claim it is “erasing history”.  In an article on the issue written by Jarrett Stepman, he argues “In our iconoclastic efforts to erase the past, we rob ourselves of knowing the men who forged our national identity, and the events that made us who we are. This nation, of almost incomprehensible wealth, power, and prosperity, was created by the decisions of men like Lincoln-and Lee, too.” To clarify, Robert E. Lee was the general for the confederate army, who as we know represented racist ideas and wanted to keep slavery. Even the president agreed that the removal of these statues is erasing history: “George Washington was a slave owner. Was George Washington a slave owner? So will George Washington now lose his status? Are we going to take down statues to George Washington? How about Thomas Jefferson? ... Are we going to take down the statue? Because he was a major slave owner. Now are we going to take down his statue? You're changing history. You're changing culture."

Those who support the removal of confederate statues say that leaving the statues is just honoring those who fought an awful war to defend slavery. In a Washington Post article, author Ilya Somin comments “Despite the claims of some critics, removing Confederate monuments does not require any “whitewashing” of history. No one claims that we should erase the Confederacy and its leaders from the historical record. Far from it. We should certainly remember them and continue to study their history. We just should not honor them.” This is a stance many pro-removal people have. 

Here are some links to further your knowledge on the issue:

Baltimore Statue Removals/Other Statue Removals:

Baltimore Hauls Away Four Confederate Monuments After Overnight Removal

Baltimore Mayor Had Statutes Removed in ‘Best Interest of My City’

Here are the Confederate Memorials That Will be Removed After Charlottesville

The Debate on Removal:

Trump: Taking Down Confederate Memorials is 'Changing History'

The Case for Taking Down Confederate Monuments

Where Will the Removal of Confederate Monuments Stop?

Why Cities Shouldn’t Take Down Confederate Statues

Here are some discussion questions to consider:

Should confederate statues be removed? Why or why not?

Would removing the statues really be erasing history?

What repercussions could there be for removing statues? What advantages could there be?