Confederate statues are monuments that were put up in respect of the Confederation and lots of people who played major roles in this group and their success. The Confederacy is the most anti-american group there ever was, they revolted against America and declared independence from it. The Confederacy was in support of slavery and the impending abolishment of slavery caused them to act. The attack on Fort Sumter confirmed the rebellion and showed how far the Confederacy was willing to go. We shouldn't memorialize a racist, anti-american group, history is meant to be kept in books and museums. There is no need to keep these statues up, the statues cling and glorify racist ideals of the past.

In the past states have decided to remove these confederate statues but have been reluctant to do so because of the communities in the typically southern states. However recently with the murder of George Floyed it sparked an uproar, and millions of people around the US are pushing to see these statues fall and be removed from the public. In the past States like Alabama, there were attempts to try and remove confederate statues but in many cases such as when they tried to take down the statue of Confederate soldier Charles Linn it failed and later on, with the commotion George Floyed death had caused the removal of the statue was a success. Taylor V. found in Alabama alone the confederate monuments, Birmingham Statue of Charles Linn, Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Montgomery Statue of Robert E. Lee at Robert E. Lee High School, Mobile Statue of Raphael Semmes, Tuscaloosa, University of Alabama Confederate Monument, Huntsville Confederate Soldier Monument, and Hayneville Lowndes County Confederate Monument were all taken down (2021). In many cases the statues are not being destroyed or torn down, often they are relocated and an example of this is in Arizona where two confederate monuments were relocated to private property.

Treishman R. found that nearly 100 confederate statues where removed in just 2020 alone. In the US only about 700 remain and the numbers are still decreasing (2021) The main issues revolving around Confederate statues are the significance behind them. There are many Confederate Statues that symbolize racism in America’s past. The monuments that have been erected have symbolic meaning to glorify and hold political and economic power. These statues glorify racist occurrences throughout America’s history. Some have stated that other countries have dealt with monuments better. For example, Germany post war dealt with all their racial monuments supporting racist leaders by removal. Germany caused World War 2 one of the most traumatic events and they have never forgotten their ties and removed many historical events glorifying any Nazi leaders.

Although Confederate statues symbolize racism, there are many rebuttals against it using the New Critical Approach which is a term to separate modern knowledge from historical events where these statues were “normal”. Throughout this era, America was facing a social transformation with different political ideas shifting dramatically. Removing statues won’t remove the horrendous history that is tied to it. It is said that Hiding America’s wrongdoings shouldn’t occur as America should face them in order to avoid repeating history. In addition to my previous statement, it is also mentioned that removing statues won’t cause any significant change. Removing statues like Andrew Jackson's statue will remove the history tied to him, including the trail of tears. Individuals like Andrew Jackson should be shown in history not be hidden or taken down, as we need to teach the future generations why what this president did was extremely bad and criticize him for it. It’s also frequently mentioned that some statues might signify historical people with political power that have caused historical disturbances but aren’t up for that specific reason. For example, different confederate generals like Robert E. Lee was a famous military general that was known for his exemplary military tactics and his effort in the American Civil War. Although, he had racist significance, there is evidence supporting the fact Lee in fact owning slaves and leading to increased plantations. Although some statues were moved they will still be taught in history for their significance and everything tied to them.

The confederate statues just aren't meant to be in the public's eyes. In this day and age where society is developing at an exponential rate and ideologies are becoming more modernized, openly representing mistakes from the past is not ideal and rather we should just relocate these pieces from history into museums where they can be studied and educated.

References:

• Taylor, V. (2021, July 13). A state-by-state list of racist Confederate monuments that have been removed so far. Mic. Retrieved February 2, 2022, from

• Treisman, R. (2021, February 23). Nearly 100 Confederate monuments removed in 2020, report says; more than 700 remain. NPR. Retrieved February 2, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/2021/02/23/970610428/nearly-100-confederate-monuments-removed-in-2020-report-says-more-than-700-remai

The Confederate Statues of the US have always been a controversial topic- especially with the tensions of modern culture and the traditional values of the Confederacy. From the long time organization of Confederacy dedication the United Daughters of the Confederacy- and their reason for funding these statues, as well from the murder of George Floyd, its logical and reasonably justifieable on why these statues should be taken down. But, for the for or against reasons on the standing of the Confederate statues- they remain a part of history nonetheless, and some should remain standing.

The removal of the Confederate Statues that cover most of the US, has always been a heated discussion between people in the US. Many repeat that they should be taken down because they promote of white supremacy while the latter argues its destroying a part of history. While both arguments are true, there is no denying the fact that 2020 ignited a spark in the movement than it had for the past century. The murder of Geroge Floyd on May 25, 2020- ignited outrage and, as stated by a USA TODAY article by N’dea Yancey-Bragg, “More than 90 Confederate monuments were taken down or moved from public spaces in 2020” (Yancey-Bragg, 2021). Similarly, the murder of Brianna Taylor- sparked a push in the movement for racial equity and removal of Confederate statues in the face of police brutality. This is often because these Confederate Statues are a reflection of the past- most specifically, “Confederate symbols are a form of systematic racism”. The police actions of the murder of George Floyd just reflects the racist structure within the criminal justice system all in accordance to the Conderate Statues.

Like with every person, event, town, or story- there is always a history behind it. The same is true with these overrated statues. Now, for those that took history- has often went over the American Civil War which the North (the Union) and the South (the Confederacy) were divided- the North fighting to end slavery- also having a regime of Black Americans to free slaves in the South (as well with the signing of the Emancipation Proclomation) while the South fought against the Union in order to continue slavery, which was formed on a racist ideology. The Confederate statues- as in the name, are to commemorate those that fought for the Confederacy. Originally, because most of these statues were not built or made directly after the Civil War- as stated on a History.com article by Becky Little, provided by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)- “the memorials…spread over 31 states… commemorative markers of the Civil War tended to be memorials that mourned soldiers who had died.” (Little, 2017-2021). The statues came into picture during the events of Reconstruction, Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement- respectively.

The biggest advocate for these monuments of controversy, were the United Daughters of the Confederacy, an organization mainly occupied by white women, stated by both from the History.com article and FiveThirtyEight.com article by Ryan Best, “The UDC was very focused on the future’ said Karen Cox…’Their goal, in all the work that they did, was to prepare future generations of white Southerners to respect and defend the principles of the Confederacy.” (Best, 2020). This organization along with other white supremict groups such as the Ku Klux Klan also endulged in other ways of promotting white supremacy as well as tradtion- “rejected any school textbook that said slavery was the centeral cause of the Civil War…praised the Ku Klux Klan and gave speeches that distorted the cruelty of American slavery and defended slave owners.” (Best, 2020). In total in the US, there is about 700 Confederate monuments (Little, 2017-2021) , minus the 90-100 of them removed in 2020- mainly revolving around the top General of the Confederacy Robert E. Lee and the Confederacy President, Jefferson Davis. Of course, most of these statues reside in the South of the US- as that is where the Confederacy was most dominant- and still as we can see today is still present because of these white supremacy organizations.

Veering from my stance was not the purpose of my argument, but, a choice made in order to introduce a very important fact that the latter continuously argues against those that roar for the removal of these statues, that they are still a player to history- even with their controversial status. This fact is also true. Now, I want to introduce a sort of different view- despite the fact that this is about the statues. My cousin, who is the owner of a Black owned farm who had once worked on a slave farm, and despite that they don’t let the statues bother them. If there has been drastic changes and promotion of racial equity and minority rights- why should all the Confederate statues be taken down? Rather than all the Confederate statues to come down the statues of Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis should be taken down. This is because they represent the whole of the Confederacy, which their statues are spread across the South public spaces. As previously stated, most of the monuments of the Confederacy were to memorialize ordinary soldiers who had died in the Civil War. Those statues of ordinary soldiers should stay up, as they just depict those who had died in a war- not the values of the confederacy. Confederate statues that memorialize the values of white supremacy stem from the most commonly found statues of the Confederacy, which are commonly depictions Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee. By removing most of those statues, such as Robert E. Lee or Davis, this would defeat their original purpose. It wouldn’t necessarily be ridding of the statues entirely, but it would decrease Confederate influence in the South along with keeping history preserved, by keeping memorials left for soldiers who had died in the conflict.

Citations:

Works Cited

Hill, Evan, et al. “How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 June 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html.

Little, Becky. “How the US Got so Many Confederate Monuments.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 17 Aug. 2017, https://www.history.com/news/how-the-u-s-got-so-many-confederate-monuments.

Yancey-Bragg, N'dea. “Nearly 100 Confederate Statues Were Removed in 2020, but Hundreds Remain, New SPLC Data Shows.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 23 Feb. 2021, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/23/historic-number-confederate-statues-were-removed-2020-splc/4556708001/.

Ryanabest. “Confederate Statues Were Never Really about Preserving History.” FiveThirtyEight, ABC News Internet Venture, 8 July 2020, https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/confederate-statues/.

Magazine, Smithsonian. “Charlottesville's Robert E. Lee Statue Will Be Melted down, Transformed into New Art.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 10 Dec. 2021, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/robert-e-lee-statue-in-charlottesville-will-be-melted-for-new-art-180979189/.