A Progressive Take On Erasing History

I’m no fan of the current administration when it defends these statues so many of us find difficult to see or let stand. And like most people, detest any kind of racism, present or past. But it is hard for me to defend the actions of the people I normally agree with when it comes to going full 1984 on ourselves. Of course I think all confederate statues should come down. But what I don’t agree with is letting a group of protesters taking these actions. What we are essentially doing by allowing this is giving permission to every other group or cause in our country the permission slip to do the same with anything they might not agree with. It is for this reason that, no matter how many hoops we are asked to jump through, and no matter how long it takes, we need to do these things by the book. Through legal action if necessary. But all we are doing by taking these matters into our own hands is diminishing our cause and driving people away who might otherwise listen to why we believe what we believe. And if we were to leave these statues, part of me can’t help to wonder what good could still come from such an action, or non-action for that matter. Could we use them as tools to explain the issues we still struggle with today? Could we keep them as a constant reminder of the potential for evil in this world? Could we use them to show that we have made at least some progress, though we still have a long way to go? I think it’s time for progressives like me to take a step back, take a breath, and try to at least make sure our actions, although seemingly righteous in the moment, might be detrimental in the long run.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/statues-and-limitations/613444/