Tweet

America has come down to one question: Should we take down Confederate Statues or should we leave them up? According to Southern Poverty Law Center, today there is still 1,503 Confederate Statues still standing. Today there are people rioting the streets to either keep the Statues or tear them down to the ground. I believe that the Confederate Statues should be taken down because the Confederate lost the war and we are representing something that offended many people. If it’s such a big problem, then let’s just tear them down.

As we know from History class, the Confederates lost the Civil War. Therefore, why are we still recognizing people who lost a war? If you lose a war, I don’t think we should have statues put up because it’s almost like awarding them and calling them heroes. In my opinion, we build statues to honor those of great success, and the confederates didn’t have success. Also they shouldn’t be honored as heroes because they fought for a destructive cause.  Plus we were against the Confederacy so there is no point on leaving them up. Instead we should be putting up statues honoring the Union because they fought for our country. Plus after the Civil War, we didn’t see the Confederates putting up statues of the Union. So why do we still have ours up? These are all valid reasons on why we should take down all the Confederate Statues.

Second of all, how would you feel walking to work everyday, and seeing a Confederate Statue. These statues remind us of terrible things the Confederacy has done to us. Not only is it reminding us but it’s also symbolizing hatred. Many people view it as a symbol of slavery and racism. In the New York Times, the Strategic and Policy Forum explained, “Intolerance, racism and violence have absolutely no place in this country and are an affront to core American values.” I also agree with this statement from Us News: “We can’t rewrite history, but we can rearrange the meanings ascribed to white “heroes” who gained their glory by committing violence to subjugate people of color.”

Overall, Statues are built to remind us of things that have brought importance to mostly everyone’s life. So why should we leave up a statue of someone who brought no importance, but only reminds of us racism and slavery. If we want the world to become a better place, we have to start off somewhere, and that means taking down these Statues. At the very most, put them in a museum where people don’t have to see them everyday. In conclusion, let’s tear them down, forget about the past, and move on.