Mike Detmer
Aug 27, 2017 · 3 min read

Consider these points about the ongoing controversies over the removal of statues, names, or other symbols.

There are ALWAYS bigger forces at play, vying for power. The protesters are pawns. Important figures in the political realm, media, and elsewhere are knights and bishops. Personally, I see a battle between good and evil. You can call it whatever you want, but we should agree that the game is so complex that both sides utilize well-intentioned people often and interchangeably. Both sides can use the players at different times, so inadvertent action that has an ill effect doesn’t doom one to the bad team forever. Obviously, the players all pursue what they see as good; however, the contrasting beauty and horror in the human world proves that all ideas aren’t created equal. Don’t get played by the wrong side.

The logical outcome of removing statues and symbols is overthrow of the current order, including the Constitution. If association with slavery negates any contribution or commemoration of Confederate leaders and soldiers, how can you stop there? The founding documents of the Confederacy enshrined the institution of slavery, but then again, the United States Constitution initially did too. The Constitution and the United States aren’t perfect, but if both weren’t overwhelmingly successful in promoting the improvement of the human condition, the US wouldn’t be such a popular destination for people from elsewhere looking for a better life. Slavery is a part of the history of the United States, but purging any and every connection to slavery (Washington, Jefferson, et al.) will not change that, nor can it reliably create a new and somehow different system that is better. Big changes should proceed only with extreme caution.

When and why the statues were built is important. Some of the statues were undoubted put up as a show of defiance to any changes or as a tribute to a pre or post war system that promoted terrible bias and injustice. The majority of statues, however, were part of the natural process of a society moving forward after a war. Not just any war, a ghastly war in a which most served and a staggering percentage of the population was killed or maimed. Furthermore, it was a war to make the belligerents remain countrymen. General Grant stopped his men from cheering at the surrender at Appomattox — he knew the enemy wasn’t the enemy anymore. Taking the post war environment into account, some modern allowance must be made for monuments that were erected as a tribute to collective and specific struggles of the Confederacy. Think of now, seven decades later, how we have so few remaining World War 2 veterans, and how much we strive to honor them and remember the sacrifices of that brotherhood. Seven decades after the Civil War was the 1930s. Why wouldn’t people then want to tangibly remember the tenacity and sacrifice of their fathers and grandfathers and the men who led them? Many monuments or tributes that honor Confederates should remain.

How statues and symbols are removed is important. Removing a public symbol or statue must be done under the auspices of the rule of law, not the rule of the mob. This isn’t like the statues of Saddam — that was during a war. This isn’t a war, nor should we let it be a revolution. Some things will need to be removed or moved, and hopefully time and reason will dictate that many will remain. The process of change in these instances, if done at all, should be purposeful and protracted.

)