Let’s Remove Dehumanizing Statues

The removal of Confederate statues is a stimulating and controversial topic of contemporary debates.

Currently, the United States’ political climate is being shaken over the possibility of removing statues of Civil War Confederate generals. I support this movement to a certain extent because I feel that liberals and conservatives are mistaken in the most extreme cases.

Every individual should understand that a statue serves the purpose of representation: it carries symbolic and historical meaning. Like artists have an impulse to create a painting, every civilization wishes to leave a mark in history. Statues are a product of history whose meaning is directly tied to the political climate of its time. 

So when we talk about statues of Confederate generals who supported slavery being displayed in public spaces, there is no denying those statues stand for the cause these men fought for. Glorifying people like General Robert E. Lee with a monument seems, to me, infamous. And with considerable attention to today’s social climate (such as the protests against racism), it seems rather offensive because it ignores past (and current) suffering and oppression. I find laughable trying to preserve a Confederate statue born after America’s ‘reconstruction’ era.

Asking why should we detest the cause of the confederate is the same as asking why should we not have slavery. At the end of the day, the current cause for minorities to be better represented is a democratic cause. A passion for equality is a passion for democracy and any sort of threat to inequality is a threat to democracy. Preserving a statue with an undemocratic symbolic meaning in a country that takes great pride in its democratic and liberal institutions portrays that country’s inability to introspect its values and ideals. 

Some say that removing a statue would be considered an act of intolerance. However, one must be conscious that a society cannot be completely tolerant or else it will find itself perished by the intolerant. The cause that Lee and the rest of the Confederates were part of was, more than anything, aimed to dehumanize Blacks. Therefore, American society should not hold on to their statues.

A more difficult discussion would be whether one should remove statues of, for example, Christopher Columbus or the founding fathers. It would be erroneous and cartoonish to think of these men as men without flaws; however, there are big differences between Benjamin Franklin and Robert E. Lee. One stands for a cause to dehumanize and the other is contrary. 

One must take into account context before seeing these men in contemporary eyes, but always without justifying the limits they crossed. As with ‘cancel culture’ (which I oppose), the main goal is to learn and progress rather than to just merely punish.

I hope they remove statues of Confederate generals as this will mean that we are progressing toward a more accepting and inclusive society. Those who say that the removal of statues means the removal of identity are half-wrong. What they will remove is the nation’s embarrassment and a reminder that human beings are capable of destroying other people.