No sitting on the fence over Confederate monuments

Sadiqa N. Reynolds and Lyndon Pryor, Guest Contributors
Published 11:24 a.m. ET Sept. 11, 2017 | Updated 1:16 p.m. ET Sept. 11, 2017

... Your silence or ambivalence on this issue does not make you fair, impartial, or well-reasoned. Your willingness to “discuss” the merits of removal with both sides or take into consideration the perspectives of those most affected—as if our lived experiences are up for debate—makes you neither compassionate nor emotionally intelligent.

Rather, they call attention to your disregard for the emotional and literal harm they inflict on generations.

No one, we are familiar with, in favor of the removal of Confederate statues from the public square, is in favor of erasing these monsters from history. In fact, we are staunch advocates for the teaching of a complete American history. A history that includes the atrocities committed against Native Americans, the transatlantic slave trade, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the dismantling of Reconstruction, Jim Crow, segregation, the prison industrial complex and more.

We want history preserved and told because we must learn from it. But monuments are not necessary for learning and truth. We need more substantive engagement in museums, books, documentaries, theaters and classrooms ...

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/opinion/contributors/2017/09/11/confederate-monuments-neutrality-racism-sadiqa-reynolds/653024001/