Statues

     I believe that Susan Bro,

​...mother of Heather Heyer, the anti-racism activist who was murdered by a 20-year-old neo-Nazi last week at the white supremacist hate rally in Charlottesville,

...was speaking for all decent-hearted Americans when she said at her  daughter's memorial service   that she would rather have her child, but if she had to give her up we were going to make it count.
      We'd all rather have this strong  young advocate of social justice  still alive and well. 
      And yet her death has brought about a seismic social upheaval that has shaken our country to its core, from sea to sea and border to border, and has caused a national examination of conscience that compels every one of us to look into the mirror and into our hearts and to ask ourselves the questions,  "Where do I stand?"  "Which side do I support?" "What do I believe is right?" "What do I believe is wrong?"  
       One realization that many Americans came to very quickly, that they  were perhaps shocked into in the wake of Heather Heyer's murder, was that the remaining Confederate monuments that still mar our public spaces had to go.  Immediately.
       In the days since the violence and death in Charlottesville, all across the United States Confederate statues and monuments have been coming down,

(From the New York Times)

...usually by night,

​...once  by citizens who in an act of civil disobedience took the matter into their own hands.

​     And in solidarity with the four protesters who were arrested for pulling down the above statue in Durham, North Carolina, hundreds more lined up inside and outside the Durham courthouse and tried to turn themselves in to Durham authorities for the act.

    And so, one blessing that Heather Heyer bestowed upon our country was the realization - by most of us - that these monuments to the people who led the the terrible  war whose aim was to put an end to the United States of America and ensure the continued enslavement 3 million human beings - that these monuments are a national shame and that they must go, sooner rather than later.
    These statues may represent part of our country's history, but it was a hateful part that no one should wish to enshrine. 
      And of those who believe that the statues should continue to stand  where they are, of those who are sad to see the Confederate monuments taken down,

...of you I ask this question:  Would you keep in constant view a photo or reminder of a person who was once part of your life but who caused you terrible pain?  Would you want to have to look at such a reminder every day?  Would you want to see other people paying homage to this reminder of your  suffering throughout  history?
      I say to those who want to keep the statues, their legacy obviously does not cause you enough   distress,

​nor do you feel distress or empathy for the people for whom those statues are a constant reminder of the suffering of their ancestors as well as the racism that is still, sadly, pervasive across this land.

     We can, indeed, do better, by reserving monuments for true heros.

References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J7vHogeubI

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/protesters-arrest-confederate-statue-durham_us_5995b749e4b0acc593e5ef8b

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/16/us/confederate-monuments-removed.html?mcubz=1&_r=0

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-confederate-monuments_us_59959586e4b06ef724d6c37a

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