Confederate Monuments – An Objective Discussion

Originally published September 2017 · p. 16

Confederate Monuments – An Objective Discussion PUBLISHER’S NOTE: In the October 2017 issue of Civil War Times is an article titled “Empty Pedestals. What Should Be Done With Civic Monuments To The Confederacy And Its Leaders?” by Dana B. Shoaf, Editor. Fifteen prominent Civil War historians, who are on the magazine’s advisory board, wrote interesting and thoughtful opinions on the controversial Confederate monument removals. Here are a few of their comments. Christy S. Coleman, CEO, American Civil War Museum, Richmond, Va. “Many want the museum to take a firm stand to support or oppose the removal of these items from the public landscape… When it comes to the American Civil War, the answer is not always “blue and gray. Americans of every background grapple with the war’s legacies in contemporary times. This history is not dead or past. This history is present.” William “Jack” Davis, Professor of History, retired, Virginia Tech University “Removing statues in New Orleans and elsewhere is unfortunate, however understandable…“Lost Cause” mythology claims that Confederates seceded over self-determination. Ironically, as local populations today reevaluate who to memorialize, that argument is ascendant.” Gary W. Gallagher, John L. Nau III Professor of History, Director, John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History University of Virginia “Debates about the Civil War’s memorial landscape erupt periodically and usually feature the same arguments from those who want to leave statues and other monuments in place and those who want to remove them… Taking down statues, in contrast, potentially inhibits a real understanding of our past, warts and all, and can obscure important themes, movements, and eras.”

Thos. V. Strain Jr., Commander–in–Chief, Sons of Confederate Veterans “It is my opinion, and that of many others, that these removals are an attempt to erase history.” Harold Holzer, The Jonathan F. Fanton Director of Hunter College’s Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute, and Vice Chairman, The Lincoln Forum “In effect, I remain torn. I abhor the iconoclastic destruction of art—whether by the Taliban at Bamiyan, Afghanistan [where two monumental sculptures of Buddha were blown up in 2001] or by our own justifiably offended citizens in New Orleans. Using the preservation of a mediocre Jefferson Davis statue to rally neo-Nazis waving the Stars and Bars is a repugnant exercise that deserves condemnation.” For more information visit www.historynet.com