Confederate Monuments
By: Nia Faith
Confederate monuments memorialize Confederate soldiers and the overall history of the Confederacy through statues and street names as well as plaques and buildings. Although the Confederacy was only present in eleven states, there are nearly 2,000 Confederate monuments located across 31 of the 50 United States as well as the District of Columbia (Eji). These monuments are intended to honor the racist soldiers who fought for the Confederacy and glorify their fight for the continuation of slavery.
To understand the dangers of Confederate monuments, it is important to first understand the Confederacy. The Confederacy was composed of 11 states across America that seceded from the United States in the 1860s to establish their own nation where slavery would be firmly protected and perpetuated (History). There was even a clause in the Confederate Constitution that prohibited any law that denied slave ownership (History). Proponents of the Confederacy were widely white supremacists who advocated for the continuation of slavery in America.
Confederate monuments illustrate Confederate soldiers as being strong and honorable thus glorifying the people who fought for slavery to continue. What’s worse is that the upkeep of these racist monuments is funded by American tax dollars (Smithsonian). The Smithsonian estimates that over the past ten years “American taxpayers have spent at least $40 million on Confederate monuments” (Smithsonian). While many Americans across the nation have advocated for Confederate monuments to be removed, several states have implemented “Heritage Laws” which protect the monuments from removal (Southern Poverty Law Center).
The United States should not be erecting or protecting monuments that honor the perpetuation of slavery nor should the burden to upkeep these racist monuments fall on the shoulders of American Taxpayers. We must advocate for Heritage Laws to be abolished and all existing Confederate monuments across the country to be dismantled to ensure that we can continue taking steps towards a future that is just and condemns the abhorrence of the Confederacy rather than celebrating it.
Recap:
- Confederate monuments glorify the confederacy, depicting confederate soldiers as being honourable people while ignoring the fact that they advocated for white supremacy and slavery
- American taxpayers pay millions of dollars annually for the upkeep of these racist monuments
- Heritage Laws protect Confederate monuments from being taken down and we must, therefore, abolish these laws so these monuments can be dismantled.
CITATIONS
Corbould Clare Corbould is a Friend of The Conversation. Associate Professor, C. (2020, November 20). Why is the Confederate flag so offensive? Retrieved April 21, 2021, from https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-confederate-flag-so-offensive-143256
Eji. (n.d.). Confederate iconography in the 20th CENTURY: Equal Justice Initiative. Retrieved April 21, 2021, from https://segregationinamerica.eji.org/report/confederate-icongraphy.html
History.com (2009, November 09). Confederate States of America. Retrieved April 21, 2021, from https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/confederate-states-of-america
Palmer, B., & Wessler, S. F. (2018, December). The costs of the confederacy. Retrieved April 21, 2021, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/costs-confederacy-special-report-180970731/
Southern Poverty Law Center. Whose heritage? Public symbols of the confederacy. (2019, February 01). Retrieved April 21, 2021, from https://www.splcenter.org/20190201/whose-heritage-public-symbols-confederacy
