- Position‹2 of 2
- No, confederate monuments should not be removed
- Argument‹3 of 3
It’s a part of Southern history
Southern history includes the horrific consequences of the Civil War. But painful pasts should be embraced since no one can run away from them.
The argument
Those who oppose removing Confederate monuments argue that the question is being settled by people for whom nothing is at stake. The nation as a whole does not have to value the importance of these monuments, and much of it does not. But to the ancestors of people who live in the southern ex-Confederate states, what the monuments mark is their own past, not a chapter they chose and not one they can set aside because others find it uncomfortable. On this view a population cannot ignore its own history merely because that history is judged badly from outside it. The second part of the argument concerns what monuments are for. A monument is not a prize awarded to its subject; monuments are used to be reminders of a notable event. Their function is to keep something in public view so that it is not forgotten, and that function does not depend on the thing remembered being admirable. Proponents argue that treating every monument as an endorsement misreads what the form does, and that removal on those grounds takes away the reminder along with the supposed honour. From these two points the conclusion follows. If the events are part of a real history that a real population descends from, and if monuments exist to keep notable events in view, then taking them down does not change what happened but only what is visible. Being ashamed of a history, on this account, leads to hiding it, and a history hidden is one that stops being confronted by the people who most need to confront it. Instead of being ashamed of it, history should be embraced, faced in public rather than cleared away. Because it is a part of Southern history, confederate monuments should not be removed.
Premises
Counter-arguments
There are different ways to express Southern pride. While it’s a part of Southern history, it was horrible for everyone. Over 620,000 people died. There are better monuments to be revered.
Rejecting the premises
[Rejecting P2] The Civil War was horrible, and no one should be proud of it.