Confederate monuments convey hateful time of white supremacy

Many of the “beautiful statues and monuments” honoring Confederate War generals were erected at the height of the Jim Crow period of American history.

Although the South lost the Civil War, and slavery was outlawed, these impressive monuments conveyed to all that the culture of white supremacy was still strong – there was intimidation, burning crosses, lynchings, separate schools, separate water fountains, blacks could not sit with whites in restaurants or theaters; both the military and major league sports were segregated; there were poll taxes, literacy tests and other obstacles used to keep blacks from voting and “in their place.”

We absolutely must not forget “the history and culture of our great country.” But should we continue to respect the mandates of the Jim Crow-era white supremacists who sought to deny African Americans justice and equal rights in the United States of America?

Recently, we witnessed the vivid images of white supremacists, the KKK, and heavily armed, torch and flag carrying Nazis shouting racial slurs and chanting “Jews will not replace us.” They marched to pay tribute to the monuments erected to honor the men who fought to tear our nation apart and preserve slavery.

True, some of the anti-fascist counter protesters are repugnant. However, it is an insult to the brave soldiers who died to protect our freedom to equate the counter-protesters with the KKK, the original American terrorists, and the violence-prone and hate-fueled Nazis.

This story was originally published August 21, 2017 at 3:42 PM with the headline "Confederate monuments convey hateful time of white supremacy."