We should be memorializing the struggles of a people stolen from their continent and brought here in chains rather than the generals of the Confederate army. Are there statues erected to honor Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman, and if not, why not? Why not more?
Yes, let us honor our history- the history of the best of us! One of the highest visions of the American dream is when people overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to inch our nation towards “liberty and justice for all.” Our history is about perseverance and determination in the face of a systemic belief that we are “less than” because of some defining characteristic of our birth. “Honoring our history” looks like monuments erected to celebrate the very best of us- those who risked everything to free a few more people in bondage- those who resisted and persisted, even at the risk of their own lives. We can create sculptures and statues that canonize the amazing women and men who escaped to freedom in the North and went back into the South under cover of darkness to lead a few more souls to a better life. These are our heroes! Ruby Bridges and Rosa Parks and so many people who wrote papers, spoke out, protested, and stood for what was right.
May every statue of some White Confederate general come down. Let the metal be melted, pooled in the cleansing fire of renewal and reshaped to tell the truth. Let us build monuments for the countless Black men beaten to death by Whites, for all the Black women who bore the children of the White slave owners who raped them. Let us honor those who were killed by hanging because they were born with dark skin. Let us uplift the Black mothers who had their children ripped from their arms and sold. Let us honor our history, America. Let us remember the past. May our history be right in our faces, showing us how far we have come… and how very far we still have to go.