America’s ongoing conflict of race continues to revolve around countless societal issues. From police shootings and mass shootings to opportunity disparity and clueless President Donald Trump.
One place of contention distinctly lies at the base of Confederate monuments. From Charlottesville to New Orleans, the argument about the true meaning of these memorials has stroked an ongoing debate about the legacy of racism in the South.
It is no secret that for a number of years the South resisted reconciliation back into the Union and the void left by the dissipation of the Confederacy was immense. Many people turned to lynching and rioting, instead of accepting and loving their fellow Americans. It is at that exact point of hatred that these iron statues stand. There is no reason to let this hatred survive today.
No one can deny Confederate monuments were built to intimidate black people and celebrate white supremacy. Almost none of the monuments were built right after the Civil War, and a number were erected during the Civil Rights era and during the prime of the Jim Crow South.
Confederate statues were placed anywhere — from local and state courthouses to parks and cemeteries. Southern states worked hard to make a statement about the rule of white supremacy in the South.
Let it be clear that a number of Northern whites agreed heavily with the concept of white supremacy. They just chose to celebrate it more subtly through inaction. Their complacency and disapproval of reconciliation and integration does not go unnoticed. Immigrants from other nations were their regional equivalent.
America was initially founded to be a place where all land-owning white men were created equal, but that had to change. African Americans and other minorities fought, and continue to fight for recognition and opportunity, just to look at a monument that celebrates the sanctity of the oppressor.
“They serve only to hide or mask uncomfortable truths about our history, encouraging ignorance and bigotry to persist across the South,” said Andrew Burstein, Charles P. Manship Professor of History at the University. “Bottom line, monuments to white supremacy have no place in our century.”
Some argue that the statues are not commemorating racism but simply honoring Southern heritage. They say taking down the monuments will deprive many from a great part of American history.
“We can’t and shouldn’t even try to change or erase or tear down our history” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said. “We must learn from our history.”
Truth is, Southern heritage can be defined by the word “racism.” It can be defined by the word “hatred.” It can even be defined as the word “treason.” To those who make this argument, I can assure you we won’t forget the racism, hatred and treason that is Southern Heritage, and neither will we celebrate it.
“I’m not for melting down the statues. The entire point is they should be in museums and not in the public square,” said Jonathan Earle, historian and Dean of the LSU Ogden Honors College.
Melting the statues down is not a solution, but leaving them in public spaces as trophies of racism is not right. As Americans, we must realize removing the statues is valuing equality. We must come together as a nation and decide we are greater than our past. Celebrating our past is preserving our problems.
Frankly speaking, racism is not a two-sided argument. It is not possible to ignore white privilege and promote the preservation of white supremacy. Confederate monuments are coming down all over the South, and unity is rising up.
Justin Franklin is a 19-year-old political communication freshman from Memphis, Tennessee.
