Argumentative Essay: Removing Confederate Monuments

Should I Stay or Should I Go? That is the question that surrounds the topic of Confederate Monuments around the United States. Throughout history the idea of removing the Confederate Monuments is the popular choice among decision makers, citing that the monuments have a sense of evilness consequently flaring up racial emotions. Strong points are continuously being made for the removal of Confederate Monuments, however the Confederate monuments should remain in public places because they honor timeless virtues, the monuments provide an opportunity to reflect upon our nation’s past as well as an opportunity to educate future generations.
Confederate Monuments began to erect across the nation well after the civil war between the 1890’s and 1950’s.

Lee, Stonewall Jackson, or any other Confederate war heroes, the Confederate Monuments should remain in public places. Their image is typically tarnished because they fought for the South, it’s hard for people to look beyond that. Instead of seeing people who were fighting for a cause in what they believed in, they see them as symbols of hatred and racism. It may not have been the cause to fight for, but they were essentially fighting to maintain their source of income. Slavery was a huge part of the Souths income at the time, so once the idea abolishing slavery came about they felt they must take a stand to keep their source of income alive and well. “Abraham Lincoln made it clear that there would be no trials or punishments for the rebels who fought for the Confederacy, and that the national agenda would be reconciliation not retribution” (Herman, National Review). So why after all these years should we remove these monuments of prominent figures in our nation’s history, if the man who abolished slavery didn’t lay down any punishments? “They are monuments to timeless virtues, not to individuals” (Herman, National Review). Removing the monuments now would be a disservice to the men that lost their lives fighting for the virtues that they believed in. Ben Jones of the New York Times makes a great point as well as he used the Confederate flag as his talking point in the article “Does the Confederate

According to Michael Signer the democratic mayor of Charlottesville who voted against the removal of his city’s confederate statue, “Numerous Charlottesville African American residents who have lived through decades of suppression of their history, oppose removal on the grounds that it would be yet another example of hiding their experience; One noted leader of an African American mentorship organization, for instance, told me he believes the statues should remain as a ‘teachable moment’ about our history….” (Signer, Washington Post). It’s very telling that residents who suffered through suppression don’t want the statues to be removed. They want the stories to be told of what they had to go through to live on and if the monuments are removed there’s no symbolic representation to help get their message across. According to Alfred L. Brophy a writer at Newsweek.com, the monuments are a part of our landscape as reminders of the days of slavery and secession; “They’re graphic reminders of Jim Crow, and the ways white supremacy was codified in statues, social practices and stone. They reveal the psychology of an era and people: the fact that white Southerners and their elected leaders believed in the righteousness of their society” (Brophy, Newsweek). Mayor Mitch Landrieu is the