Confederate statues should remain historical landmarks
Ever since the Charleston church shooting in 2015, there have been controversies around confederate statues and monuments. Many people believe that they should be taken down because they stand for hatred and racism. While that may be true for some, there is a lot of blatant hatred making people want them gone, when really they should not.
The statues being taken down are often of major confederate leaders like Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. These characters are often criticised for defending slavery and racism, but they do not account for all the statues and monuments honoring hatred.
“My dear pastor, in my tent last night, after a fatiguing day’s service, I remembered that I had failed to send you my contribution for our colored Sunday-school. Enclosed you will find my check for that object, which please acknowledge at your earliest convenience,” Stonewall Jackson wrote in a letter home.
Stonewall Jackson was troubled by the prospect of slavery since he grew up with them and considered them a part of his family. He went so far out of his way to break the law for them so that they might have education. It is not fair to condone him for racism and hatred.
“So far,” General Lee wrote in a letter, “from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that slavery is abolished. I believe it will be greatly for the interests of the South. So fully am I satisfied of this, as regards Virginia especially, that I would cheerfully have lost all I have lost by the war, and suffered all I have suffered, to have this objective obtained.”
Again, a major leader in the confederacy proves that slavery was not his aim. He seemed overly pleased that slavery was ended, yet there are even arguments that Abraham Lincoln only abolished slavery to win the war. It begs the question as to why people want them taken down.
Another problem is that people can not just blame monuments in honor of the confederacy. Taking down a statue of Lee does not make leaving a Minnesota state park named after Henry Sibley, who was directly responsible for the death of some innocent 300 Native Americans, right.
“These monuments celebrate a fictional, sanitized Confederacy ignoring the death, ignoring the enslavement, ignoring the terror that it actually stood for,” New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said in a May 19 speech. “They may have been warriors, but in this cause they were not patriots.”
The arguments presented by Landrieu are valid for a large portion of confederates. The problem is that not all of the monuments being taken down represent the evils of slavery. Taking them down and erasing history is definitely not the solution.
There are a number of possible solutions. The first and easiest of which is simply to put plaques on the monuments stating what and why it’s there. A second idea is instead of destroying them and removing them, open a museum that presents them. That way either they are explained, or are not in the wide open.
Joshua Framke is a distribution reporter and writes for editorial in his junior year. He likes running and working out. He is in cross country and track...
Arieanna Junghans • Nov 15, 2017 at 9:46 am
I really like the point of view in this editorial and I like that the author took a position and made his position clear.
Sophia Jensen • Nov 14, 2017 at 6:46 am
This article is informative and clearly states your perspective on removing confederate monuments. Research was done well and you chose many strong informative quotes to support your view. You gave good reasons why the monuments shouldn’t be removed from the research you could find.
Daniel Schlenker • Nov 14, 2017 at 12:15 am
I think you did a very good job at being very professional and unbiased, there’s lots of good research that went into this and that is what makes it appear very professional. Honestly in my opinion it would not look out of place on some big fancy website. I thin that because of how you show both sides of the argument it makes it a very interesting story to read.
Max Kennedy • Nov 13, 2017 at 9:41 pm
Your story was to the point and pointed out many truths. You showed how many people who criticize these monuments know very little about them. It was smart at the end to come up with a reasonable compromise to the issue as well that way more people can agree.
Levi Gregg • Nov 13, 2017 at 8:26 pm
The slideshow at the start of the story provides great lead, however it would be more effective if it’s relevance to the story was explained. The story provides a very clear and respectful argument while showing perspectives from the opposing side. In general, the story is well written, but could have a slightly more concise lead.
Will Gleason • Nov 13, 2017 at 7:21 pm
Very well written article. You chose very compelling quotes that did a fantastic job of supporting your claim and argument. It is evident that your research was very well done because you took an issue that the majority of the nation would see only one way, and you show them the other side. I agree with your opinion, these monuments are a part of history and represent so much more than slavery.
Grant Hietpas • Nov 13, 2017 at 6:38 pm
I liked this article because it made me see a new perspective I never saw before. I think, growing up in the North, we are somewhat removed from this important issue. Well done, good quotes, good arguments, and generally good job covering a controversial subject in a respectful manner for both sides.
Hailey Willius • Nov 12, 2017 at 8:34 pm
An outstanding amount of research was done in this article to find evidence to support the articles overall opinion as it would have been much easier to pick the opposite. The overall flow of the article was well thought out and done in a respectful way, not challenging the opposite position rather showing evidence of what they perceive maybe be incorrect. An overall well-written article.
Malaina Fragnito • Nov 12, 2017 at 8:16 pm
This is a very well researched article. It is evident you did your research on why the monuments should remain and I agree with your opinion. These monuments represent more than “slavery and hatred”, they represent our countries history and the people who died trying to stand for what they believed in. The southerners were fighting also to stop the government from overstepping its boundaries to the common people. This article also included compelling quotes from the generals, very nice job.
Lilly Sample • Nov 9, 2017 at 9:38 am
Your article is well written and pulls quotes from Confederate leaders that support your claim. Even so, I disagree with your opinion and believe that if Robert E. Lee was a Confederate leader and owned slaves that he was not against slavery and was certainly racist. Civil War monuments are historical, like you said, but should be removed and moved to museums where people can learn about the history behind them, as should any racist or controversial public landmark.
Michael VanLieshout • Nov 9, 2017 at 7:54 am
This article was really well done. I could tell that a lot of research was done for this article. I feel like the only reason the confederate generals would start saying anti-slavery quotes is because they lost the war and did not want to made the Union and angrier than they already were.
Hunter Hippel • Nov 7, 2017 at 4:51 pm
I thought you did a lot of really good research for this story. Finding quotes by Confederate generals, especially ones that show their disdain for slavery, had to be hard to find. You laid out your case very well. However, I disagree with your opinion. If Lee was so inclined against slavery, I find it unlikely he’d be one of the South’s most important commanders. There are multiple pieces of evidence, which include Lee being a slaveowner, that point to him being for slavery.