There was nothing inevitable about the way our Civil War monument landscape emerged by the early twentieth century for the same reason that there was nothing inevitable about the rise of Jim Crow and legalized segregation.
Hope this will put the kibosh on the dishonest argument that removing statues is erasing history. Of course, removing a statue of e.g. Jefferson Davis does nothing to remove the harmful marks he left on the USA or the histories describing them.
Better argument, however, is that removing some statues is removing some lies about American history. That's an argument worth having.
Thanks for a great post. For a while, I was wondering if we were losing history when the monuments came down. Now it seems we were losing a history that never happened.
Glad you enjoyed it. That's right. Monuments reflect what individuals/communities chose to remember and not history. Many Confederate monuments reflect outright lies.
Hope this will put the kibosh on the dishonest argument that removing statues is erasing history. Of course, removing a statue of e.g. Jefferson Davis does nothing to remove the harmful marks he left on the USA or the histories describing them.
Better argument, however, is that removing some statues is removing some lies about American history. That's an argument worth having.
Thanks for a great post. For a while, I was wondering if we were losing history when the monuments came down. Now it seems we were losing a history that never happened.
Glad you enjoyed it. That's right. Monuments reflect what individuals/communities chose to remember and not history. Many Confederate monuments reflect outright lies.