All countries have events that have since become a taboo subject in society. While the United States has a few of these cases, the Civil War remains the most famous of all such events. Despite being over a century past, the Civil War has continued to put a wedge into today’s society. It was an epic war (between the south and the union) that had such an inhumane basis that it should be deemed inappropriate and offensive to commemorate the losing side. Such history does belong in the halls of museums to remind future generations of the turmoil and division within our country in this time period, but it does not deserve to be honored or recognized on the streets of our great cities.
Confederate symbols, such as the Robert E. Lee statue or the Confederate flag, are enduring reminders of the hate, discrimination, and inhumane beliefs of our southern ancestors. Sadly, many soldiers and leaders, from both sides of this war, were brave and worthy of recognition in their own. Now when it comes down to the overall moral of the war, a line must be drawn on how that recognition is portrayed. We must fully teach the history while refraining from glorifying the Confederacy. The celebration of southern war “heroes” has became a recently popular social and ethical problem that has arisen.
Wanting the removal of these symbols does not equal wanting to erase American history, more so it is a mutual agreement that they stood for an offensive time period and they have a better place. Confederate monuments and memorabilia belongs in museums or history textbooks. They do not belong in our beautiful cities to taint the progress we have made as a society and as a country. These wrongs, that past citizens have endured, deserve to be respected now if anything. It was a long, hard road to reach the point our country is at now.
Despite still having few social/racial issues in our society, as a country we have tried to become better from what we learned from Confederate beliefs. Just as we have no right to invalidate the feelings of those affected by the Civil War, we cannot push these symbols on society under the blanket excuse that it is “history”. A proper removal and transfer of all Confederate symbols would be the perfect, modern symbol of how our country has come to respect and value the feelings and lives of all different backgrounds and walks of life. This does not just affect our society now; this affects all future generations as a huge mark of progress in the history of our country.
Some will argue that, under the right reflective nature, these Confederate symbols can exist in the public world if they are properly engaged with and if they are implemented into history lessons as reminders instead of celebrated objects. The problem with this argument is that it does not account for the painful reminder that some of our citizens will experience each and every time they see these statues and flags. Some of our country’s citizens do not need further reflection on the subject because they have the harsh reality of having ancestors that were involved or perhaps even were slaves.
The debate on removing Confederate war symbols has sparked an inspiration for the removal of many statues and flags across the country. I believe if properly educated, people would better understand the deeper meaning behind this movement. If approached in a gentle, yet unwavering way, we can enlighten our society and prepare for a new generation that signifies a stronger unity within our country. When we lose our anger and chose the path of understanding, we can show (to those who perhaps do not support such progress) that removing Confederate history is not a hate act towards this heritage/background. Rather this is a solidified action for the greater good of our society. Placing Confederate symbols into the correct places, such as museums or private showrooms, we can better control the perspective and history that is being taught. We can finally end the division that our ancestors created within our country. The first step is to unify our people on social issues such as this and remove the symbols of segregation and slavery.