Argumentative Essay: Removing Confederate Monuments

Should I Stay or Should I Go? That is the question that surrounds the topic of Confederate Monuments around the United States. Throughout history the idea of removing the Confederate Monuments is the popular choice among decision makers, citing that the monuments have a sense of evilness consequently flaring up racial emotions. Strong points are continuously being made for the removal of Confederate Monuments, however the Confederate monuments should remain in public places because they honor timeless virtues, the monuments provide an opportunity to reflect upon our nation’s past as well as an opportunity to educate future generations.
Confederate Monuments began to erect across the nation well after the civil war between the 1890’s and 1950’s.

There seems to be a correlation of when these monuments began to pop up and the era of the Jim Crow Segregation. The highest spike of monuments being built were between the 1900’s and 1920’s. These monuments were meant to be a teaching point of values to people rather than being a symbol of hate as many people took them to be. According to Mark Elliot, professor at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro; “The values to which these monuments stood for included a glorification of the cause of the civil war” (Little,”How the U.S. got so many Confederate Monuments”, History.com)
Due to the timeless virtues of the men they portray whether it's Robert E.

Lee, Stonewall Jackson, or any other Confederate war heroes, the Confederate Monuments should remain in public places. Their image is typically tarnished because they fought for the South, it’s hard for people to look beyond that. Instead of seeing people who were fighting for a cause in what they believed in, they see them as symbols of hatred and racism. It may not have been the cause to fight for, but they were essentially fighting to maintain their source of income. Slavery was a huge part of the Souths income at the time, so once the idea abolishing slavery came about they felt they must take a stand to keep their source of income alive and well. “Abraham Lincoln made it clear that there would be no trials or punishments for the rebels who fought for the Confederacy, and that the national agenda would be reconciliation not retribution” (Herman, National Review). So why after all these years should we remove these monuments of prominent figures in our nation’s history, if the man who abolished slavery didn’t lay down any punishments? “They are monuments to timeless virtues, not to individuals” (Herman, National Review). Removing the monuments now would be a disservice to the men that lost their lives fighting for the virtues that they believed in. Ben Jones of the New York Times makes a great point as well as he used the Confederate flag as his talking point in the article “Does the Confederate

Flag Breed Racism”. He goes on to say, “To those 70 million of us whose ancestors fought for the South, it is a symbol of family members who fought for what they thought was right in their time, and whose valor became legendary in military history” (Jones, New York Times). Much like the Confederate flag the perception of these monuments is often skewed, to provide an understanding of what the monuments stand for, perhaps we should add more context to the displays.
The opportunity to reflect on our nation’s past as well as having the chance to see how far we have come since those dark days that loomed over our country are provided by the Confederate Monuments as well. We still have work to do in terms of coming together as a nation, but times are certainly better than they were back in the 1860’s and the years that followed. Removing the monuments from public places would be an attempt at erasing history and a failure to acknowledge our hardships that we had to overcome in our nation’s past. Stephen Grossman a writer for the Baltimore Sun acknowledges, “Philosopher George Santayana’s observation that those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it is as true as ever. We learn much from history and even beyond that, we are the products of that history. Nations, like individuals, can only fully understand themselves if they know what events and which people brought them to where and who they are now” (Grossman, Baltimore Sun). Keeping the monuments in place would be a constant reminder not only for the people who support the Confederate monuments, but those who oppose them that times are much more different than they were over 150 years ago.
The teaching points that the monuments could provide to the public would be essential in ensuring that future generations receive a good understanding about what it was like during this period.

According to Michael Signer the democratic mayor of Charlottesville who voted against the removal of his city’s confederate statue, “Numerous Charlottesville African American residents who have lived through decades of suppression of their history, oppose removal on the grounds that it would be yet another example of hiding their experience; One noted leader of an African American mentorship organization, for instance, told me he believes the statues should remain as a ‘teachable moment’ about our history….” (Signer, Washington Post). It’s very telling that residents who suffered through suppression don’t want the statues to be removed. They want the stories to be told of what they had to go through to live on and if the monuments are removed there’s no symbolic representation to help get their message across. According to Alfred L. Brophy a writer at Newsweek.com, the monuments are a part of our landscape as reminders of the days of slavery and secession; “They’re graphic reminders of Jim Crow, and the ways white supremacy was codified in statues, social practices and stone. They reveal the psychology of an era and people: the fact that white Southerners and their elected leaders believed in the righteousness of their society” (Brophy, Newsweek). Mayor Mitch Landrieu is the

democratic mayor of New Orleans; he brings up valid points for removing the statues that were known as the “Lost Cause of the Confederacy. However, I was drawn to a quote he used in his transcript that he credited George W. Bush for using at the dedication ceremony for the National Museum of African American History & culture: “A great nation does not hide its history. It faces its flaws and corrects them” (Landrieu, Source 6). When they removed those monuments they might have corrected their flaws, but at the same time their hiding from a part of their history. Yes, it was a terrible time a part of our nation’s past and maybe there should be more monuments that represent what African Americans endured, however it remains important to acknowledge our past rather than erasing it from history. The removal of the monuments takes away that opportunity of learning from those who want to know more about the ideology of the monuments and what the message is behind these monuments.
Each side has compelling arguments as to whether the monuments should remain in public, be destroyed, or be moved to more suitable locations. However, I firmly believe the monuments should remain where they stand today. They are a lasting image of what this country has overcome through the years following the Civil War. The Civil War will always be a dark part of our nation’s history, but it’s essential we continue to move forward as a country and work towards reconciliation as Abraham Lincoln mentioned so many years ago rather than retribution as it pertains to the removal of the confederate monuments.