Should Confederate Monuments Be Removed

Another issue with the statues are the actual subjects monumentalized. Notable people that are commemorated with having models of themselves publicly displayed are usually figures that the people of America are proud of, like Abraham Lincoln or Harriet Tubman. Confederate statues, however, are the exception; for they are monuments that represent the institutionalization of racism. “Our public spaces should not glorify historical policies of hatred and racism,” argues Kevin Kamenetz, executive and president of the Maryland Association of Counties (Eversley 2017). That single phrase perfectly sums up what people across the country are attempting to convey, and expresses the main issue that many have with these statues. No person who fought for the right to keep humans as property is deserving of modern honor.

Confederate statues depict anti-abolitionists as heroes and very honorable men, therefore they should be removed. These men who are depicted as heroes fought for the institution of slavery. These statues not only glorify anti-abolitionists but they remind people of the strong racism of the time. Many people fight for the removal of these statues for the sole reason that they “serve as constant reminders of institutional racism, segregation and

Attention Grabber: Due to the recent events that took place in Charlottesville, North Carolina, the discussion on whether or not the Confederate monuments and symbolism should be removed has come about. In this speech, I will give you some more information on the benefits and disadvantages to both removing and keeping the statues and flags.

The removal of Confederate monuments has been a controversial topic over the past few years. Many want to tear them down, others want to keep them up and some want them to be moved to museums. Although controversial, many still do not know why exactly people want these statues to tear down or be kept up. After reading and analyzing both Michele Bogart’s and The Guardian’s view on Confederate statues, I would say that Michele Bogart’s “In Defense of ‘Racist’ Monuments” article was the most persuasive. Right off the bat, Michele Bogart starts off with how the rise of white nationalism is causing officials around the country to remove memorials of Confederate soldiers, military leaders, and symbols of “the Lost Cause”. Bogart clearly states that not all civic statues represent white supremacy or racism, but that they are “the culmination of complex social and artistic engagement at the community level” (Bogart). She further explains how eliminating these statues is not going to help solve the problem of racism in the United States. Her purpose in this essay is to persuade the reader that civic monuments should be kept up as pieces of art, not as “symbols of hate”.

The Civil War continues to be a major talking point today -- a war that was fought over the extension of slavery. In 2017, a contentious conversation continues as the public debates the reasons of the Civil War, whether or not it was about slavery or states’ rights, and the ethics behind having massive monuments commemorating a time of our history that was so divisive. Symbols of the Confederacy, which includes the Confederate flag and monuments depicting leaders of the Confederacy, are seen to be racist and propaganda tools used by white supremacists. However, there are those who believe that these confederate symbols are misleading and leads to the false ideas that the South was patriotic and heroic during the Civil War. Through

Before engaging in discourse regarding the Confederacy, it is important to understand what, exactly, it was about. The Confederate States of America were formed in 1861 as a way for the deep South to continue owning slaves, due in part to the fact that their agricultural industries depended on slave labor to operate. While they did stand for other things, the origin and primary goal of the Confederacy was to fight against those who wanted to abolish slavery. Because of this, Confederate memorabilia and monuments are fundamentally linked with slavery and racism, and this aspect must be remembered when discussing what to do with regards to Confederate monuments.

After careful consideration I have decided that Confederate monuments should not be aloud in public places. These monuments stand for things that our country doesn’t. I think even if we take down the monuments that we will never forget our history. I still think that we should keep some monuments ,but in museums and for learning because we need to teach children about our past so they

The Confederate flag has been a topic of controversy in the United States for many years. It and other symbols of the Confederacy are parts of many state flags in the South and it is even flown at several state buildings throughout the South. To some the Confederate flag is a historical symbol and is believed to be a way of remembering the Civil War that almost tore the nation in two, but to others it represents fear and hatred due to its use by racial hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and it symbolizes the slave-holding South that existed prior to the Civil War. Such a controversial symbol should not be flown on state grounds, but also should not be forgotten. State lawmakers should remove the Confederate flag from state buildings and instead erect memorials remembering the Civil War that are jointly Union and Confederate, or museums remembering the war and honoring the thousands of soldiers that died during America’s bloodiest war.

The issue of whether or not the Confederate statues is in huge debate. Some think that the monuments stand for a lost cause of racism and white pride while others believe the statues should continue to stand for history and reembrace purposes. But should the federal government do anything about the statues?

For the past few months there has been lots of controversy of wither or not the Confederate Flag should be taken down. The removal of the Confederate Flag had been brought up again because a man by the name of Dylan Roof had shot and killed 9 innocent people who were attending Bible study at the Emanuel AME in Charleston, South Carolina, Wednesday June 17, 2015. People all over the United States have been arguing over this topic, no one can agree on wither or not we should take down the flag. In my opinion the flag and any other historical monument that relates to the Civil War should be left alone.

The civil war was one the bloodiest American war in history. Both sides fought to protect what they thought was right. The north wanted the abolishment of slavery and create equality throughout the whole United States, the south though the opposite. Slavery was the main point of the war and why it started. Now since the north won the war and slavery was abolished over the U.S. there should be no monuments or symbols commemorating and glorifying people who fought for slavery. I have four points on how these statues and symbols should be removed.

Although the idea of taking away Confederate monuments is appealing and presents sound foundation to do so we should leave them where they are. At first, one can argue about the benefits our society would harvest from taking them away, but without doubts that action would come with collaterals that might be even worse than the alternative. As John Daniel Davidson in "Why We Should Keep The Confederate Monuments Right Where They Are", in the Federalist, cites Donald Trump being mocked after elaborating on the idea that tearing down those monuments would, indeed, portrait a logical argument for also tearing down monuments that represent Liberty and Human Rights. Not only with demands but also with vandalization of Lincoln Memorial in

Imagine your children living in a world full of hatred, prejudice, and discrimination from their brothers and sisters of America. The ultimate reality where a minority man or woman can’t cross the street without feeling vulnerable or concerned of an issue occurring because of who they are. I am telling you this because if we let the Robert E. Lee statue remain standing, our world will become a dystopia of animosity and bigotry with the support of White Supremacists and Neo-Nazis. In the late 1800’s, President Lincoln wanted to abolish slavery all throughout the United States, however, the South believed that it was unconstitutional to eradicate slavery. Due to the disagreement about slavery between the Union and the Confederates, they began the American Civil War and endured the four years of combat casualties on both sides, until the Union won and slavery was completely abolished. Subsequently, many statues emerged in southern states honoring Confederate soldiers and leaders that fought against the Union in the Civil War, such as the Robert E. Lee monument. With rich history, like ours, we can see the evolution in our society and learn from our racial, degrading, and dishonorable actions that has affected one to several millions of Americans. Although the Robert E. Lee statue is a form of history, the statues need to be removed from the public property because of the true representation behind the monument and the pain in remembering our infamous racial past.

With many confederate monuments coming down across the country a debate has come up. Should the monuments be removed, or should they stay? Are they racist, or do they show America's heritage? These are questions that are being asked across the country and according to a study by Massincpolling (2017), 28 percent of Virginians support removing the monuments but 51 percent want to keep them, a quarter of them thought the monuments were racist and over half thought they were part of Southern heritage. This data shows that the majority of Virginians think that the monuments are not racist and they want to keep the monuments up, but only 28 percent, which is just over a quarter, of everyone that took the survey thought that they were racist and that they should come down. This means that the monuments should stay up, unless the local governments wanted the majority of Virginians to get mad.

The American Civil War was a clouded era where, by comparison to modern norms, judgement was ill evolved; during the American Civil War era, slavery was still acceptable in certain parts of the country. However, it was nevertheless a cultural turning point in the history of our nation. Our nation has not always been the cultural mixing pot it is now. To arrive to modernity, there are many factors that we ought to take into consideration so we can be knowledgeable about how we got to where we are today. In the past months, there have been events that have caused a big spark in the debate of Confederate monuments; such as the rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where protesters and counter-protesters caused a riot, and a big part of their fight pertained to if specific Confederate monuments should be removed or be able to stay. Some argue that Confederate monuments should be removed due to the very apparent connections to slavery and racism and also that times are rapidly changing. However, I argue that Confederate monuments should be preserved, but the monuments should also be evolving with our ever-changing society, in order to be honest about our nation’s past even if those memorials are somber or difficult to talk about. If we were to keep Confederate monuments we should add placards where it talks about specific events that will help with maintaining the education and learning of the American Civil War.