# What should we do with confederate monuments and statues? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 15, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694 "2017-08-15T01:11:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 27
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2020, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/521 "2020-07-04T04:52:57Z")
Ooooh, I like! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2021, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/522 "2021-04-02T14:00:10Z")
Bumped. > **[Virginia Supreme Court clears the way for Charlottesville to take down statue...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/charlottesville-confederate-statues/2021/04/01/b40b5a54-92ee-11eb-9668-89be11273c09_story.html)** > > Ruling appears to make it easier for localities around the state to remove Civil War memorials. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/523 "2021-07-10T14:32:52Z")
Finally: > **[Charlottesville Removes Robert E. Lee Statue Four Years After Deadly White...](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/07/charlottesville-removes-robert-lee-statue-jackson.html)** > > The city also removed the statue of Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![FrenchDunadan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frenchdunadan/32/5449_2.png) [@FrenchDunadan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrenchDunadan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/524 "2021-07-10T15:31:14Z")
Japan even has a temple dedicated to the ears and nose of thousand of Korean: [Mimizuka - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimizuka) But the graves of Tojo and others war criminals are simple, with no statue or other highlight. Military cemeteries in Germany and Japan do not encourage Nazi or Imperial propaganda. And no statue of AH or other Nazis in Germany, of course. Just some small busts…unfortunately… ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/525 "2021-07-10T16:09:39Z")
Hooray! ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/526 "2021-09-07T05:43:50Z")
Over a year later, they are finally removing the Robert E. Lee statue Wednesday: > **[Richmond’s Robert E. Lee statue to be removed Wednesday - WTOP News](https://wtop.com/virginia/2021/09/richmonds-robert-e-lee-statue-to-be-removed-wednesday/)** > > The largest Confederate statue remaining in the U.S. is in Virginia, and it is slated to be removed on Wednesday. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/527 "2021-09-07T18:38:20Z")
And more than that, considering the time frame in which it was completed. I can’t help but think completing it was basically a big middle finger to the whole idea of school desegregation and other civil rights efforts of the 1950s-1960s. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2021, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/528 "2021-09-09T14:24:48Z")
Not only that but apparently it is so large and unwieldy that to move it away they had to further cut the general in half, leaving his legs attached to his horse. Which to be honest looks like rubbing in the meta element. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/529 "2021-09-09T15:54:17Z")
I’m for grinding them up. I think Stone Mountain should be blasted from the rock face. If they set up a Howitzer and charged money to take pot shots, I’d be there. What good does “leaving them alone and learning from them” do? What are we actually “learning”? That being a traitor to your country gets you a nice stature in your town square? Cool! Tearing down monuments meant to honor traitors doesn’t prevent learning the history. Paving over civil war battlefields and making the Shiloh Shopping Senter isn’t the same. Actual history can and should be taught. Just not this “state’s rights” bullshit, this “noble cause” crap. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/530 "2021-09-09T16:08:58Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > What good does “leaving them alone and learning from them” do? Yeah, the average person is going to see a statue and think “that person did something good”. They aren’t going to read the plaque that says “led an insurrection against the United States”. And of course we (helped) pull down statues of Saddam Hussein in Iraq - why weren’t those left up as history lessons? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/531 "2021-12-23T14:32:02Z")
Bumped. > **[An 1875 almanac, books and a coin were discovered in time capsule found in...](https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/22/us/virginia-lee-time-capsule-open-trnd/index.html)** > > An 1875 almanac, 2 withered books, a coin and a cloth envelope were among the items inside an 1887 time capsule that was opened Wednesday. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/532 "2022-02-02T15:28:46Z")
An update: > **[73 Confederate monuments were removed or renamed last year, report finds | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/02/us/confederate-monuments-removed-2021-whose-heritage/index.html)** > > After 73 Confederate monuments were removed or renamed in 2021, there are now 723 left in the US, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. And see: > **[Robert E. Lee's descendant proves his lineage and pushes for 'honest' history...](https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/01/us/robert-e-lee-anti-racism-descendant/index.html)** > > Rev. Robert W. Lee felt like his integrity was being challenged when Confederate defenders continued to accuse him of lying about being a distant relative of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2022, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/533 "2022-08-31T13:02:14Z")
> **[Plaque Bearing Image of Hooded K.K.K. Figure Hangs at West Point](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/30/nyregion/west-point-confederate-symbols-kkk.html)** > > A special congressional commission that recommends the removal of Confederate symbols at U.S. military sites flagged the image, which appears above the words “Ku Klux Klan,” in a new report. Commission concluded it was outside their remit, since they were to look at symbols of the CSA on defence property and KKK was post-CSA, but drew it to the attention of Congress. West Point is reviewing it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2022, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/534 "2022-08-31T21:19:24Z")
As well they should. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2022, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/535 "2022-08-31T22:35:45Z")
The mayor of Enfield, NC knows how to get things done. > **[A North Carolina mayor explains why he ordered the bulldozing of a...](https://www.wunc.org/race-demographics/2022-08-24/north-carolina-mayor-explains-ordered-bulldozing-confederate-monument-enfield-mondale)** > > Commissioners in the small town of Enfield, North Carolina recently voted to remove a Confederate monument from a local park. The town's mayor started livestreaming while he instructed others to bulldoze the statue. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2022, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/536 "2022-08-31T22:46:50Z")
And fiscally responsible, too: > [@](#): > > The only dissenting vote, Commissioner (Kent) Holmes, said it was going to cost the town an outrageous amount of money to remove the statue and do something with it, place it somewhere. I said, I’ll tear the statue down. It won’t cost the town anything. And I’ve already found somebody that will haul it away for us." ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2022, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/537 "2022-08-31T22:55:44Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > As well they should. It certainly illustrates the maxim that the South lost the war but won the peace. ---
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/538 "2022-08-31T22:59:27Z")
My sentiments exactly! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/539 "2023-08-17T13:49:50Z")
The Party of Lincoln c. 2023: > **[How GOP lawmakers are pushing for Confederate monuments to be (legally) set...](https://www.aol.com/gop-lawmakers-pushing-confederate-monuments-090842229.html)** > > Civil War monuments are scattered across the US, but in recent years cities have removed Confederate statues. GOP state lawmakers are pushing back. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694/540 "2023-08-25T18:35:32Z")
RE: Stone Mountain Add General Sherman chasing the confederates into the sea. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments-and-statues/793694.md?page=28)