On Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va, once stood many statues to The Lost Cause, as Southern diehards referred to the Civil War. In the last year they have, one by one, come down. This week the pedestal on which the statue of Robert E. Lee stood has finally been removed. Here you see construction workers leveling the ground on which this monument to the top general of the Confederacy once stood. The questions remain, what will take its place and what will happen to the statue now removed.
I definitely despise the thought of slavery and the way people have been treated, but there are so many mixed feelings surrounding the destruction of some of these monuments. Destroying these monuments will not remove the reality of the feelings some will always hold in their heart. You cannot erase history. I mean really, the same people that are pushing to destroy all these statues may one day go after other statues that you and I may admire, could be statues that represent our faith, especially if they are offended by what we believe. Then what?
@digitalrn I don’t think we comfortable middle class white people can possibly understand the deep seated feelings of persecuted minorities. I drove by these statues for years without thinking much about them except as historical curiosities. After all, I was from the North and had no loyalty to the customs and traditions of the Confederacy. But what I also didn’t get was the fear so many of these people felt trying to make their way through a White world. I couldn’t know and I will never know. I wonder if we can get far enough away from that period to meet on an even playing field. I do wonder what might have been if Lincoln hadn’t been assassinated.
@allie912 I agree, we can never understand the hatred they lived through. All we can do now is do our best to prevent it from going on. I just wish there was a better way to get people to understand.
US politics is quite complicated and i don't pretend to understand it, but my understanding he was pro slavery