From the Editorial Board:Remove Confederate monuments to America's original sin of slavery Tear down systemic racism brick by brick. Amid a world that seems hell-bent on tearing down statues in a cathartic frenzy, it is worth sparing a moment to reflect on why we erected those statues in the first place. One of the arguments used by those in favour of keeping the statues of Leopold II is similar to an argument used in favour of keeping the confederate statues in America. If the statues are not taken down, should new historical context be added so people viewing the statues can learn from the past? NEW YORK. A drone image shows the area surrounding the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia. No. Since we do not remove our parents, despite their weaknesses and errors, we do NOT remove a tradition that has given us meaning and life. But turning a statue of Cecil Rhodes into an invented psychological trauma, or demanding that it be removed as an act of decolonisation, will neither change the … Students 13 and older are invited to comment. Why should the statues (not) be removed? Protests over Floyd's death in Minneapolis have refocused the country's attention on police brutality and racial injustice. Why are Confederate statues being removed? Taking down the Christopher Columbus statue can lead to the desecration of other statues and eventually the call to remove any statue honoring a historical figure because they will possess some flaw. The statues of Confederate heroes represent for many a glorification of slavery and the attempted destruction of the United States by an enemy nation. Rick Anderson is a principal at Earnscliffe Strategy Group. To be clear, symbols having meaning. The death of George Floyd is leading to the removal -- by protesters in some cases and city leaders in others -- of contentious statues that have riled some residents for decades, if not more. We do not build war memorials to celebrate war, but as a reminder of the tragic cost of war and a warning to future generations. Yesterday, people were spotted trying to fish the statue of Colston out of the Bristol harbour as conflict emerged over how the protesters have behaved and whether statues should be removed. Who decides which statues are to be removed and where is the limit? This is why the city council of Charlottesville voted, a century after it was commissioned, to remove the statue of Robert Edward Lee. He says most Americans do not know or care who Jefferson Davis was, what century the Civil War was fought, and that relatively few people care about these statues … Four Giant Reasons To Remove The Statues. Should statues of Sir John A. Macdonald be removed? And ultimately, it is why the others will come down, too. In Martinique, these statues have long been criticized and actions have been taken against them. Macdonald’s penchant for violence and degradation toward Indigenous … Maman the Big Spider. RA. ... My point here is not that one statue should go and that the other should stay, nor is my point that both should go or both should stay. In the wake of the recent police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and widespread protests against police brutality and systemic racism in America, there are renewed calls for Confederate monuments around the country to come down—from Birmingham, Alabama, where a 52-foot obelisk known as the Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument was dismantled on June 1, to Richmond's … By Rick Anderson Opinion. Why should the statues (not) be removed? ... (but you totally should not read it and should not tear down a racist statue in what some consider vandalism). Artifacts of hate will be lost, but their history and meaning will not. Re-Righting History: Why We Must Remove Confederate Statues Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com Since the death of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM) has been calling for a transformation of America — not just in terms of racism and how blacks are treated but also the revision of the American landscape. People weren’t looking at the entire record of people when they put up statues to them. And in France ? While the left thinks that a monument’s primary purpose is to glorify great dead white men, the reality is that they were meant to be symbols of hope and progress. Having these statues in a museum instead of as a centrepiece of a city means the statues may be viewed less as a symbol of white supremacy and more as a piece of history There is a reason black citizens in the nation’s capital direct their Uber driver or cab to take them to “D.C. 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