The battle about what to do with the Confederate monuments is not new. Unless we figure out how to honor infamous events in way that does not glorify them, we as a country will continue the long and complicated debate. There are many perspectives, but the four biggest are to leave them up, take them down, put them in museums, and learn more about them before making a permanent decision. Right now, the United States seems to be taking the side of forming a more educated decision, although some cities, like Charlottesville, have been making the decision of taking them down. The United States is a very undivided nation, which makes it difficult to come up with a solution, especially because it is impossible to make everyone happy. That is why, …show more content…
The people who are on the side “leave them up”, believe that the monuments represent only love and heritage, not hate. Sara Lane, an author for the Bowling Green Daily News believes that, “these are not monuments of hate. These are not monuments to slavery. Not one of the monuments suggest slavery was a good thing.” Although it may be true that there were some memorials built to remember those who fought with the Confederacy because they were forced to, most of them were not, and it is evident because they were built a long time after the Civil War ended. Many well known memorials, such as the Vietnam Memorial, were put up right after the event, and they were made to honor those who fought, and to help start the healing process. However, according to the article “How The U.S. Got So Many Confederate Monuments” by Becky Little, she writes that in the US, “most of these (700 some Confederate) monuments did not go up immediately after the war’s end in 1865,” and that ‘“The vast majority of (Confederate monuments) were built between the 1890s and 1950s, which matches up exactly with the era of Jim Crow segregation.” According to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s research, the biggest spike was between 1900 and the 1920s.’ If most of the monuments were put up over 30 years after the Civil War, were they really put up for the right
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.
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 iconic monuments on Monument Avenue are at the center of a debate that is spreading across the entire southern part of the United States. Support has been growing within a group that feels that these Confederate monuments represent hate and oppression. This group wants all of the monuments
In 1861 there was a war that turned north against south family against family. After their war the created monuments that represent the brave leaders that fought for what the believe in. Now there is controversy over if the monuments should be destroyed. This has created a titanic fight between tow sides one side is for the monuments being destroyed and the other side dose not want it to be destroyed. I believe that the monuments should not be destroyed. I believe they should not be destroyed because we need to remember our history. Finally is that it will not stop the violence.
In the argumentative article “Pro/Con: Should Cities Remove Confederate Monuments?” the authors debate the question by using the pros and cons of the argument. This argument has become a popular topic among American citizens the past few weeks. Many monuments have been taken down and some moved to less public places due to violence caused by what the monuments represent. The monuments have caused a split between Americans, one hoping to bring them down, the other hoping to keep them up. After reading the pros and cons, it is clear that the Confederate Monuments should not be taken down since they are historical monuments.
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.
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.
Mitch Landrieu wrote an article called “PRO/CON: Should cities be allowed to take down Confederate Monuments?” proclaiming how having confederate monuments can be both negative and positive depending on the point of view you withhold. Although confederate monuments bring moral bad values to the present, the big influence it has towards education heavily outweighs the denial to destroy history. According to Landrieu it “teach important lessons.” This is significant because every day millons of young teengers enter a social studies class not knowing anything about history and the only thing that in fact stands from decades is a confederate monument which has more than a meaning of a hero begin it. Not only does it educate them, but it opens there
Today I would like to talk about the removal of the confederate monuments. The war ended one-hundred and fifty years ago, these monuments have been standing for quite some time now. These monuments are set to honor those who fought for HUMAN rights. These monuments stand for a very dark part of American history and now they are being taken down because we as a nation simply cannot handle different opinions. I understand that some people see these monuments as a celebration of those who fought pro-slavery, but some also think that they are to celebrate the overcoming of such a horrendous time in our history; these are opinions and every single person is entitled to one. That doesn't mean we disregard such a huge part of what sculpted America
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
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.
First, removing all these statues and monuments cost a lot of money and take a long time. For example, The cost to remove all the monuments and statues in New Orleans could cost $600,000. Thats a lot of money for one city to pay for, and that money could be used for more important things. Another reason I feel that we should keep these statues and monuments because it’s a part of our history. Yes, the Confederacy did believe in slavery, but it isn’t about honoring slavery. It’s about understanding that this is what we once were as a nation. Keeping this symbolizes how far we’ve come as a country and how much we’ve progressed. Taking these monuments down would be in a way an attempt to erase our
If you study the history of any country, it is bound to have uncomfortable topics that the people of that country would rather not think about. This includes the United States; The US is not lacking in uncomfortable topics in its history. If you look at any part if the nation’s history there will be dark sides. However, for many people in the united states they would just rather avoid the blemishes and look at the positive’s and the people such as the founding fathers as if they were perfect. The confederacy is a major part of history and heritage in the south and now many cities are taking down confederate statues because instead of having them there showing figures from a major event in the history of this country, they are too ashamed
Confederate monuments should stay in public because taking them down goes against the Constitution. The First Amendment gives citizens of the United States the freedoms of speech, expression, worship, and other liberties. Creating and keeping up monuments falls under this because it is symbolic speech towards the Confederacy, the South, and their generals (Nelson). The only way speech is
I believe that the only way to move towards understanding is to publicly confront these truths. We do not have to remove these monuments; we just have to update what they stand for. We must publicly confront our nation’s historical truth if we wish to move forward, the truth of our nation is that at one point, the confederacy was honored and believed to be in the right by many. But we can engage the public through art and education by displaying the grotesque disparity between the confederacy’s beliefs and what our nation believes now and is working towards. Furthermore we can raise a new generation of citizens who are not shocked by the disparity, who