Saving the Confederate Memorials and Monuments

Random internet users, civic activists, and numerous media sources have recently called for the demolition or replacement of Confederate monuments in cities throughout the country. The justification behind the change is that the government should not recognize the whites who struggled to keep slavery alive and they feel it is a long past time to eradicate the uncomfortable memories of the past. Cities around the world, from Baltimore to Los Angeles, are removing statues of Confederate soldiers and officials. For instance, a local pastor in Chicago called for the removal of the name of George Washington from a park because he was a slaveholder, and also, of all people, vandals defaced one of Abraham Lincoln’s statues (Fund). However, this iconoclastic impulse is a mistake because although it seems, there is nothing noble about the Confederacy, or what it is perceived to stand for, which is seen to be slavery, it can be argued that there is something worthy, and necessary for a free people. This necessity involves preserving the culture and history of American so that the citizens can understand their identity and how they should live. Therefore, American antiquity needs to be maintained; the good and the bad, the destruction and removal of our Confederate monuments and memorials must be stopped.
1. Historical Symbol
a) Shaped the history of America
The Confederate monuments and memorials should not be taken down because they are ancient symbols, and doing so will mean reshaping the American history from the ground. Ideally, the more critical concept at stake is the loss of the binding heritage and the common purpose that the Americans of the previous generations shared and forged. In the iconoclastic efforts of those opposed to keeping the Confederate memorials, it can be argued that they are robbing the citizens of knowing the events that made them who they are, and the men who forged their national identity. The decision by Robert Lee and Abraham Lincoln created, this nation, of almost incomprehensible prosperity, power, and wealth. To this regard, America will be left as a diminished civilization by the zealous march to obliterate the country’s past, even the ones that the people dislike. The consequence would be that the differences and the divisions between the citizens will become less tolerable and sharpened. Also, the people who fail to even come to grips with the wisdom of those who lived in the past will have to relearn the lessons learned from the bloodiest war in the country’s history (Stepman).
The Confederate monuments and memorials are also traditional symbols of battles and soldiers, whether they were on the winning or the losing side of history. Therefore, the monuments and memorials need to be preserved in both the North and the South because they represent various participants and aspects of the civil war. They should also be protected because they are recognized as the signs of the devastation that must transpire at times to bring a more sustainable future and a new order and to end a persistent way of thinking. For instance, Confederate museums and memorials are the ancient symbols that in America, the evil of slavery has been abolished. It took the civil war to rid the state of the government-sanctioned slavery and establish the supremacy of the federal government. For this reason, every monument and memorial should be honored and preserved because it is recognition of that fact. As such, the placement of the Confederate monuments and ceremonies is to ensure that people are less likely to forget history. They encourage the citizens to be on guard against the circumstances that led to the devastation and continually work to eliminate the vestiges. Therefore, these monuments should be maintained and kept to the public in open and easily accessible places. The edifice should also be replaced or repaired if they are destroyed or even defaced by people who do not understand history and target them due to their anger (Martin).
In the present day, the standard objection of the statute is that since they inhabit spaces that are public, their purpose is to respect their subjects, who fought to preserve slavery and were of course racists. However, people need to see them in a different light by knowing history. They need to be considered as a cautionary and haunting tale. Not every piece of public art or statute has to console or comfort with the people. Occasionally, they should oblige people to grapple with the vagaries of human nature and the history of temperament. A society that is mature always recognizes that the past must always be kept in mind because it is with them forever. The statues should be left to stand as a memorial of the nation’s ancestors who passed on, a challenge to comprehend their time and its troubles, and a warning for the present day (Davidson).
2. Cultural Role
a) A sense of Unity and Belonging
The removal and the destruction of the Confederate monuments and memorials must be stopped because they play a cultural role that is crucial for the nation because they celebrate origins. They present an automatic sense of belonging and unity within America. They portray the symbol of the American community, honoring people, veterans, and heroes who participated in the war and the events for the qualities it finds indispensable to its identity. For instance, whatever the flaws of George Washington, he is honored as a father of this country. In the second place, memorials, such as the wall of the veteran’s names in Washington are aimed at making sure that various people and events are always remembered, although, in numerous instances, people may be ambivalent about some concepts of the incidents. Therefore, removing or destroying the structures would eliminate the opportunity for using the past productively. The better alternative would be critical contextualization. However, it would be an intricate process, drawing on the judgment and the skills of a good cross-section of residents, urban planners, artists, and historians. Much could be added, including the disenfranchisement of the African-Americans, the disputes over slavery, and the plagues concerning the war itself. Possibly, the country could become great by confronting and acknowledging its past with critical interventions, as well as thoughtful memorials and monuments, which plays a crucial cultural role (Shapiro).
The memorials and monuments are not about hate, but instead, they are about heritage. The structures are not symbols of white supremacy, racism, or intolerance. However, they were put up to honor the lives lost in a lost cause, which involved a battle that divided the nation in two, and it was a war that the Southern men tragically lost while bravely defending their homeland (Coates). The statues show that the Southerners have a strong sense of pride in their culture, as well as history. One recommendation for stopping the removal and destruction of the Confederate monuments and memorials is that, besides the civil war and slavery, they should be recognized for their richness of the Southern culture. Ideally, this effort would go a long way toward dispelling the wrong and hasty judgment that there will not be anything of the Southern culture if all or some of the symbols are brought down. Furthermore, the noteworthy statues should not be discarded but preserved in an environment where the memorials are perceived as artifacts that are educational rather than celebratory icons. The objective would be to situate them where the historical, cultural, and moral issues that made them controversial can be clarified.
The argument for the removal of the Confederate monuments and memorials is that the act could make people forget what transpired. However, the primary reason people learn from the mistakes made by their ancestors is so that they do not repeat it themselves. For many Southerners, remembering what the Confederacy represented and the Southern heroes is crucial to them, for the reason that it is part of their heritage. The population that takes pride in that era in history is mainly taking pride in its primary values, which include white supremacy and Christianity, and such beliefs benefit the society, and their removal works to devalue the opinions. Therefore, it is not a good suggestion to remove the monuments because the era in which they thrived is regarded as a dark point in the country’s history. The event is something that transpired, and people need to be reminded of it and that the involved parties existed. What the statues represent could eventually be forgotten if they are not placed around to be seen (Pritchett).
3. Source of identity
a) Honor to the Heritage of Millions of Americans
The removal and the destruction of the Confederate monuments and memorials must be stopped because they are a source of identity. They honor the heritage of millions of the citizens. In the unthinking view of the African slavery, it perceived to be so much the outstanding feature of the South that people often forget that the North also had slaves. Therefore, although it was in the upper South that slavery flourished, the slaves also played crucial roles in the social and economic order of the North (Harper). Bringing down the statues could imply erasing the Confederacy, as well as its leaders from the historical documentation. Although they need not honor them, the community needs to remember them, and their history also needs to be studied. The objectionable monuments should as well remain for the reason that they have a great historical and artistic significance, which promote heritage. Furthermore, rather than bestowing honor, other statues can suitably be displayed in various facilities, including museums whose purpose is facilitating historical understanding and research. It would also not be right to disturb confederate cemeteries and other similar amenities whose objective is to lament and commemorate the dead, instead of the cause they fought for and their deeds. Similarly, the government should not restrain the use of Confederate monuments and symbols by a private organization, including the ones that wrong-headedly seek to defend such statues and their legacies (Somin).
The statues can also be argued to be a source of identity since the black freemen, as well as slaves, fought for the Confederacy. It is not a surprise that the blacks participated. The reason for the black Southerner’s involvement was to support their country, which, in turn, portrayed that it was possible to hate the slavery system, but still, love one’s country. The Black Confederate comprised both those who were free and slaves, and it is estimated that they made up over 65,000 soldiers in the Confederate ranks, and many of them were killed in action (Williams). Furthermore, the skilled black workers, at the Buffalo Forge, which was a Confederate located in Rockbridge County, Virginia, earned more than the Confederate army officers ($350-$600 annually), and on average, their wages were three times that of the Confederate soldiers (Williams). To this regard, slavery was not the cause of the war or secession because the Union was formed in spite of it and it existed previous to the constitution. Both from the perspective of the Sound statesmanship and the Constitution, it was the vindictive, intemperate anti-slavery movement that was the cause of all the troubles, but not slavery (Oliver). The statues do not commemorate the Confederacy history, relatively; they memorialize the heritage of how the symbols of the Confederate have been mobilized as the backlash of the whites against the achievement of the black civil liberty in the course of the post-civil war in the nation.
4. Conclusion
The sincerity of many individuals who are calling for the removal of the Confederate statues is not in doubt. However, each of the memorials has their meaning, place, and context, and those who cherish public understanding and history thereof should want each of them judged, and their providence determined, upon careful consideration. The motive for the removal of the monuments is focused on slavery far more than any other issue. However, slavery had nothing to do with the civil war. The statues should also not be taken down because they are the reminder of the state’s past. Therefore, it will be more productive to view this history as the building block on which the country can continue its objective of erecting a union that is more perfect. Ideally, the reason is that they are a reminder of the struggle that the ancestors overcame during that era.
 
Works Cited
Coates, Tyler. “It’s No Longer About Southern Heritage. In Fact, It Never Was..” Esquire, 12 Aug. 2017, www.esquire.com/news-politics/a56974/charlottesville-virginia-confederate- monuments/.
Davidson, John. “Why We Should Keep The Confederate Monuments Where They Are.” The Federalist, 18 Aug. 2017, www.thefederalist.com/2017/08/18/in-defense-of-the- monuments/.
Fund, John. “Monument Madness.” National Review, 27 Aug. 2017, www.nationalreview.com/article/450866/confederate-statues-african-americans- majorities-reject-tearing-down-monuments.
Harper, Douglas. “Denying the Past.” Slavenorth.Com, www.slavenorth.com/fugitive.htm.
Martin. “Why Confederate Monuments Should Be Preserved And Honored.” Charlotteobserver, 06 July. 2017, www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article159984099.html.
Oliver, Liza. “What Confederate Monuments Do | Albright Institute.” Wellesley.Edu, 2017, www.wellesley.edu/albright/about/blog/3536-what-confederate-monuments-do.
Pritchett, August. “Do Confederate Monuments Represent Southern Heritage?.” Study Breaks, 28 July. 2017, www.studybreaks.com/2017/07/28/what-should-happen-all-old-confederate- monuments/.
Shapiro, Gary. “Opinion | The Meaning Of Our Confederate ‘Monuments’.” Nytimes.Com, 15 May. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/opinion/the-meaning-of-our-confederate- monuments.html.
Somin, Ilya. “Opinion | The Case For Taking Down Confederate Monuments.” Washington Post, 17 May. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/05/17/the- case-for-taking-down-confederate-monuments/?utm_term=.c860128b7e6a.
Stepman, Jarrett. “Why Cities Shouldn’T Take Down Confederate Statues.” The Daily Signal, 01 Jun. 2017, www.dailysignal.com/2017/06/01/cities-shouldnt-take-confederate-statues/.
Williams, Scott. “Black Confederates.” Sons of Confederate Veterans, www.scv.org/new/contributed-works/black-confederates/.