Confederate Statues Research Paper

Improved Essays
Confederate monuments are placed publicly all around America and, in recent years, it has raised dispute between people who support Confederacy and want the statues to stay; and people who do not support Confederacy and want to remove the statues. They represent Confederate leaders and history that was made during the American Civil War. Due to white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia violently protesting against the removal of the monuments, there has been an increasingly negative view of what the statues truly represent. Some identify these Confederate statues as an embodiment of a past that is missed by many Americans. This undeveloped viewpoint is dangerous, however, as it tends to justify discriminatory and violent acts. The

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The carving represents the courage of three confederate leaders who defended what they believed to the best interest of the United States of America. Regardless of the reason they fought, and the way it is viewed in today’s politics, the confederate army served for the southern states. Such a vital part of American history cannot be turned into a measly controversial topic for politicians much less demolished and…

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For those whose ancestors have suffered before the Civil War occurred, as well as for those who ancestors who have made others suffer, keeping those statues of Confederate soldiers out for others to see is a reminder of a painful past that brings up…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The community engaged in public protest and declared that the decision was based on race. Many believe that the flag is a symbol of hatred and inequality, while others see the flag as a symbol of pride. Recent articles address this debate. One of them, “ The Confederate Flag Has Become a Trademark for Racism, Despite Its Historic Appeal”, by Kareem Crayton appeared in the New York Times Room For Debate Forum. In it Crayton argues, “ symbols embraced by the state ought to bring people together rather than divide them” and he claims that the flag does not bathe everyone.…

    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    If we think what is more important “preserving history” or “avoiding a child a heartache every time they see those statues.” History is not going anywhere, it can't be changed and it can't be erased we will always know what happened, now if we think about it: in our life when something bad happens we try to not bring it up as much or we try to minimize the focus on it; could we do the same thing for these statues? We could take them down and not focus on them but the history will still be known because it was something that shaped our country. Landrieu want to show the world that as a city they can choose to do the right thing on what was wrong. He believes that “putting the confederacy on a pedestal in our most prominent places of how honor is an inaccurate recitation of our full past, it is an affront to our present and it is a bad prescription of our future.”…

    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Should cities be allowed to take down Confederate monuments? Type your argument below. Cities should be allowed to take down Confederate monuments. Leaving up Confederate monuments can upset citizens who have to see them. In the article “PRO/CON: Should cities be allowed to take down Confederate monuments?”…

    • 282 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Confederate Flag Controversy For a long time coming in the United States people are finally saying how they feel about the Confederate Flag. Some people believe it is part of their heritage, others think it is a sign of racism and disrespect. People tend not to pay attention to the real meaning of the flag. Everyone and each family has their own meaning for the Confederate Flag but the straight forward meaning this that is was the Confederates flag in a war that took place almost 150 years ago.…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What does the Confederate flag represent? From this simple question, many different answers are generated. Most notably the answers that are given are "slavery" and "racism". This is not the case for everyone. Being raised in North Carolina, I often see the Confederate flag.…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Confederate Flag

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “American public opinion on the confederate flag remains about where it was 15 years ago, with most describing the flag as a symbol of Southern Pride more than one of racism.” (Agiesta 1) The confederate flag will always be a part of the history in the United States. It has been integrated in the culture for well over a hundred years, and now that all of a sudden a shooting happened everyone wants to blame a flag and remove it based on prejudice or racism. The flag is a symbol of patriots who were trying to protect a country and make sure it remained as the founders of the country intended it to.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Every American must accept that we all live in the U.S. and we what makes us so special is that we are a melting pot of the world. Even Robert E. Lee said that the war is over and there should be no honoring of Confederate anything; the Union won and it is the Union we must honor. So, I came to the conclusion that I believe the statues should be torn down (except if in a Confederate cemetery).…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Since and during the Civil War, the Confederate flag has been proposed as a symbol of treason and opposition against the United States, acting as the flag for a separate country titled the Confederate States of America. The flag is often utilized to rise and generate feelings of secession and rebellion. In today’s time, discussion regarding the South seceding from the United States has been a heated topic for some devout Southerners due to new implemented laws, such as Gay marriage legalization, and new opposition facing the sacred flag of the South. For many Southerners, this is an attack on their conservative beliefs and ways, which only increases tension and feelings of secession. Furthermore, the Confederate flag, symbolizing rebellion…

    • 209 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    So why allow them to continue to desecrate and damage the reputation of a battle flag that was a part of a history where African-American’s won their equality. Take a negative situation and turn it into a positive. Teach the next generations the truth about what happened, and how American’s can learn, grown, and become better human beings. Let the Confederate flag stand for battles waged every day, win or lose, where American’s unite together to learn and grow, becoming better, stronger, more independent…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Rocklyn Turano Professor Crowe Composition 1 22 October 2015 The Confederate flag A proud relic among the southern states, the confederate battle flag has been handed down from generation to generation from its once heroic and brave ancestors that fought so valiantly for their confederate colors. The confederate colors should not be limited by the government in any way, but to no avail the government is attempting to take our rights to these historic colors away. To take this right away is a strict violation of the first amendment; “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Many…

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the class discussion about remembering slavery in the United States of America, a student in the class mentioned statues. With this, the class discussion turned from a productive discussion to a politicized debate over whether to remove or keep the statues of Confederate Statues. During this class discussion, I grew increasingly infuriated and frustrated because the politicized debate on statues overrode, what I believe is more important, the class discussion on how to remember slavery in the United States of America. During the class discussion on whether municipalities should keep or remove statues of Confederate generals, I became increasingly infuriated with the discussion because the beliefs of people largely correlate with their political affiliation and view of outside events.…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Racial Prejudice as a Means of Violence “My people, my people, what can I say; say what I can. I saw it but didn’t believe it; I didn’t believe what I saw. Are we gonna live together? Together are we gonna live?” -Mister Senor Love Daddy Spike Lee’s film Do the Right Thing is a masterpiece in that it captures both the love and hate eminent in a community at the very end of the 80’s era.…

    • 1253 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In his essay, Protecting Freedom of Expression on the Campus (69 - 71), Derek Bok examines just how disruptive a confederate flag can be in a college campus as it has symbolic connections to slavery. Bok 's thesis is that such form of an expression can be offensive, however, this is not enough to prohibit such form of communication due to its First Amendment rights. Bok makes an adequate argument because he assesses the offensive nature of this act as well as the harm that is derived from censorship by mainly providing persuasive notions. Although Derek Bok makes a strong case behind his support of the First Amendment rights, the essay nevertheless conveys various weaknesses.…

    • 1007 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays