Removal of Confederate Monuments

[L Verge]

Politicians have made bad decisions based on race here in the U.S. for nearly 400 years, and it has cost us dearly. It will be impossible to erase all evidence of slavery and racism throughout that period, and I feel that attempts to do so only stir the pot of hatred. Tearing down statues will not solve the problems of the inner city (drugs, unemployment, poor education). And, many of these problems hold down citizens of other races also.

I grew up in a segregated world, but my family had many black friends and were around them daily since my uncle ran the country store. I began teaching when the schools in my county were being desegregated via busing. The black students in my school were just as angry about being bused to a white school as their white counterparts were. Despite that, I have seen great strides being made, and my county in Maryland happens to be the home to the highest economic class of African Americans in America.

It has only been recently that Marylander Roger B. Taney's statue has been removed from Annapolis - despite the protest that Taney has been judged as one of the best Constitutional defenders in our history. That statue did nothing to hinder economic prosperity obviously. None of the ones that New Orleans (and other cities) is proposing to move have hindered progress either. What's next? Tear down Mt. Vernon, Monticello, Stratford Hall, Jackson's Hermitage, Arlington House, Surratt House?

Work on where the current problems exist. Use the "destruction" money instead to fix those problems. Teach the masses to walk by those statues with head held high, knowing that a good education - and the good use of such - overcame the hardships of yesteryear.

I'm climbing down from my soap box now and waiting for lashes from the cat o'nine tails...