Originally Posted by
ErinKC
I actually think it's probably appropriate to take down Confederate statutes and monuments, and I say that as someone with a huge number of Confederate ancestors. But, they lost a war against the United States that almost tore the nation apart, so I think it makes plenty of sense to not venerate them. I totally recognize that the Civil War was about a lot more than just slavery and that states rights are really important, but I think it's kind of silly to maintain this veneration for Confederate generals and the Confederate flag.
My dad and I have done a ton of work on our genealogy. My ancestors came to North America from England in the 1600s and set up shop both in what became Virginia and also in the Caribbean. They have a long and sordid past as not just slave owners. They were deeply entrenched in the slave trade across the continent. Many of them were also integral parts of formation of the United States as representatives at the Continental Congress, Generals in the American Revolution, and high ranking government officials in the Washington, Jefferson, and Adams administrations. I have a lot of pride in my family's past as builders of a new way of life, but also have had to grapple with the less than glorious (and in some cases downright heinous) parts of their lives.
I think this is really America's story - finding a way to balance pride in our history while still being able to recognize our wrong doing for what it was. This means, I think, holding on to things you value in your past while not building literal monuments to the darker pieces of your story. I think Americans have this insecurity about our past. We are sold such a mystical story about our founding that when we grow up and learn more details about it it feels really uncomfortable. Instead of admitting we're not perfect, we double down on the myth.