Robert Reed
Aug 25, 2017 · 1 min read

At the risk of sounding supportive of these statues (I’m not), I do want to quibble a bit with the timing of the placement of the statues. I cannot respond to the 1960s era of monument building as those was undoubtedly based on the feeling of southern whites losing control. The 1920s/1930s, on the other hand, were essentially the first real time that southern states could erect monuments like this due to conditions on being readmitted in the late 1860s and 1870s and the slow elimination of Radical Republicans from southern state governor mansions. I suspect those were built more to thumb their noses at northern carpetbaggers rather than as overt displays of racism.

Either way they belong in a museum if they belong at all and not in a public place designed for the enjoyment of all citizens.

)

    Robert Reed

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    Reader, Consumer of Creative Output, Admirer of a Good Turn of the Phrase. Challenge me to think in a new way but also encourage my nostalgia.

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