One person’s historical monument is another person’s symbol of oppression.
Only a short period of time removed from the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the polarizing opinions of many Americans continue to clash over Confederate monuments still standing around the country.
A subject as complex as racial insensitivities requires delicacy and the conviction necessary to make a strong point. This task proves itself to be quite tricky in a time as tumultuous, unsettling and hostile as today.
It is a challenge in-and-of itself to even bring up the subject in an objective light.
Simply requesting decency and composure when discussing volatile topics such as white supremacy, culture change and oppression proves increasingly difficult.
I’m sure even the title of this piece might detract some from reading it, or invoke a knee-jerk impulse to dislike the topic before they even read the first two sentences.
That reaction is expected though. This isn’t a light, everyday subject. This isn’t an intangible concept. The topic of racial atrocities effects the lives of countless people.
In his speech the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Robert F. Kennedy said, “violence breeds violence, (and) oppression breeds retaliation.”
These words echo in my mind as I observe some of the most recent headlines. Especially when observing repugnant demonstrations, like those in Charlottesville.
In a response to the planned removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, hundreds of people carrying torches, Nazi flags and other white supremacist propaganda took to the streets.
Heather Heyer, 32, and two state troopers (Jay Cullen, 48 and Berke M.M. Bates, 41) were killed during the rally, all because many people wanted to protect a piece of stone.
I am not saying I believe in erasing history. I love history as a concept. It is the road map depicting how people of all walks of life got to where they are.
However, there is a time and a place for the pieces of history that promote hate. Museums, schools and books should be the place for history, all of history; the good, the bad and the horrific. That history should be utilized in education, not in admiration.
What I do believe in more than anything else, however, is fighting one’s fellow countrymen will never solve anything.
In 2015, Dylann Roof walked into a predominantly black church and prayed alongside church goers, before mercilessly gunning those helpless people down with the sole intention of starting a race war. By fighting over race, that deranged man wins. He got what he wanted.
This man walked into a safe space for many and executed its patrons to accomplish exactly what is happening right now — hate, and condemnation of our fellow citizens based on the pigmentation of their skin and geographical differences.
There isn’t a statue in the world worth that.
The legacy of any one public figure is microscopic compared to what kind of legacy this generation has the potential to leave behind.
While I personally would like to see the remnants of such an ugly era filled with war, bigotry and death taken down, the actions we make now are far too important than expending energy combating each other.
Andrew Ward can be reached at [email protected]