Confederate Statues Research Paper

From New Orleans to Charlottesville, Confederate statues have dominated headlines and sparked a new debate in American society. A dualistic, more mainstream, and simplified representation of this issue posits one side that argues that these statues glorify those who espoused an immoral stance and ought to be taken down, whereas the other side presents the counter that these statues serve a historical purpose and educate society of a darker age. This is a boiled down version of the matter. This paper argues that the latter perspective lacks cogency on the grounds that the statues do not illuminate the history of the past, but rather glorify the Confederate cause, white tribalism, and white supremacy. A fundamental premise of this paper’s …show more content…
Despite the celebration of the Confederate cause, it is necessary to examine the emotional ancestral claim to Confederate statues. This claim posits that the descendants of Confederate soldiers feel an emotional bond to the statues of Confederate soldiers. Although it is impossible to truly and accurately judge the heart of a person’s emotional attachment, this claim includes a few different problems, chief among them is that it is impossible to proudly claim heritage to a Confederate soldier, without proudly claiming heritage to the Confederate cause of racism. Moreover, seeing statues as a source of pride is an insult to the millions of slaves and their plight as they shed blood, sweat, and tears to build …show more content…
The recent tide of public interest in this topic, with a special focus on Confederate statutes, comes at a time in US history when American society is faced with difficult but much needed awaited questions on the issue of race relations. Considering the growth of the Black Lives Matter movement, the national conversation on criminal justice reform, and the issue of systemic racism towards African Americans, the reactionary movement to these and other progressive campaigns includes an affiliation with Confederate statues. This reactionary movement is seen in states such as Louisiana, North Carolina, and Virginia, when there were strong and, in the case of North Carolina, successful campaigns to outlaw the removal of any Confederate monument (Graham). Confederate statues do not educate the citizenry on the harrowing past of slavery, but rather signal and fuel a revival of public xenophobia and nativist sentiments in the US. Given the resurgence of populism and white-identity driven politics, best demonstrated by the election of Donald Trump to the presidency, the surprisingly high support of Confederate statues is part of a deadly combination of nativism and