Monuments

Apparently some folks are defending confederate monuments and the like because they're a part of American history. The Civil War is a part of the story of the nation, there's no question about that. It brought not only the question of unity within the United States into the continental zeitgeist, but also questions about the freedom of black people in the so-called "Land of the Free" that persist today. Protests in defense of black lives have lead to the dismantling and destruction of certain monuments throughout the country, and those who want to see those monuments protected argue that protesters are trying to erase history. 

But consider Manzanar:

It's a place in the mid-eastern side of California best known for being a relocation camp for Japanese Americans during World War II. 120,000 people were wrangled up and relocated to this small tract of land because of racism disguised as national security, even though there were no similar camps for German Americans during the war. After the war the camp was left to be swallowed up by the sand of time and the dust from the Owens Lake, but now exists as a National Historic Site. It serves to remind the public that the country did something terrible, and that many face discrimination in many forms to this day which we need to overcome. 

By contrast, a statue of Jefferson Davis serves to celebrate a person who fought a war for state's rights to own slaves. A monument to Christopher Columbus is to commemorate a man who brutalized Indigenous Americans and was eventually arrested for being a murderous tyrant. The confederate flag is a banner of a treasonous group of racist losers that even NASCAR won't tolerate anymore. 

History-- especially American history-- is rife with examples of missteps, mistakes, and blatant abuses of human rights to life and liberty. We don't need to celebrate those things; we need to learn from them and do better, and literally idolizing bad people and groups won't help with that. Keeping monuments that celebrate oppression do more to deface the nation than their destruction of them by protesters. We should absolutely not sweep the less-than-savory parts of our history under the rug, but that doesn't mean we should glorify them. Remember slavery so we can work to dismantle the institutions built by them and lift up the people affected by intergenerational trauma and racism. Remember the brutal parts of our nations past and present so we can do better moving forward for our people.

In summary: Fuck the confederate flag, Columbus Day, statues of Stonewall Jackson, and all the other stains on history that don't need to be celebrated. Fuck 'em.