Should Confederate Monuments Come Down?

On one level, the presence of Confederate statues in memory of a variety of military and political leaders should occasion no comment.  They were on the losing side of the war and, with a few exceptions (Robert E. Lee being one) memories of who they were 150 years ago have disappeared.  They were and remain symbols meaning different things to different Americans. 

Certainly many statues were raised in towns across the South after the Civil War in commemoration of “the lost cause” – what was perceived as noble and justified resistance to the Northern states.  Undoubtedly, the statues were meant to show defiance, too.

Were they intended to glorify and honor those who fought on the side of slavery?  Surely, by some.  But perspective is called for.  In its initial stages, the Civil War was not a battle for abolition.  President Lincoln, himself, made clear that the South could retain slavery as it long as it returned to the Nation.  It was only after Union forces “prevailed” (earned a stalemate would be more accurate) at Antietam in September, 1862 that the Emancipation Proclamation was announced that “freeing” the slaves became a national objective.  That decision was, at least, partially an attack on Southern morale.

Whatever symbol white Southerners intended the statues to be after the Civil War, today many Americans (black and white) see them as a commemoration of slavery.

Whether that perception is accurate is beside the point. 

Focusing on a person’s negative conduct to the exclusion of positive aspects, of course, is not fair.

[Robert E. Lee was a remarkable military leader and effective advocate for reconciliation when the fighting ended.  He earned honors for those aspects as well as condemnation for being on the pro-slavery side.]

But symbolism as considered is not subtle or nuanced.  It strikes emotional chords.  When a person kills worshippers in Charleston, South Carolina, or runs down an opponent of Southern statues in Charlottesville, Virginia, it’s understandable, indeed, that those statues become symbols of racial hatred.  Will their removal lessen or soften such animosity and related bias or prejudice?  Unlikely.  It’s more probable that those harboring such attitudes will feel them more intensely because their symbols have been taken down.

Nonetheless, the removal of what are considered to be offensive symbols of racial hostility are welcomed.  In a fashion, their removal is viewed as an act of reconciliation and respect for the feelings of those offended (black Americans and others, as well).  However, to be sure, there are many good Americans who are also offended by the removal of the statues.  They deserve not to be ignored. 

It should be possible to accommodate, by compromise, the symbolic concerns of the well-motivated, on both sides.   

The dead-of-night removal of such statues by city leaders in Baltimore is not a worthy blueprint.