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Hailee Mullins
Professor Lovin
ENG 102 22660
30 April 2021
The Right Choice Is Not Always Easy
“Is a Confederate monument on the steps of a courthouse in Virginia worth preserving if
it contributes to the historical trauma and stress that a 50-year-old black woman endures as she
seeks justice for her son who was slain at the hands of the police?” (Carter 141). Throughout
America, confederate monuments are a major debate. The confederate monuments celebrate the
confederacy that fought to keep slavery alive in America during the 1800’s (Eaton 13). Within
that, according to Of Crosses and Confederate Monuments: A Theory of Unconstitutional
Government Speech,
“In both cases, government messages, whether or not accompanied by effects, are
understood to be powerful. These messages have the power to exclude, stigmatize,
demean, and denigrate. They also exhibit the wrong attitude regardless of material
consequences. They teach the wrong lessons.” (Schragger, 71).
It is important to understand the power the confederate monuments hold. The point of the
confederate monuments is not to express American history, but to celebrate the confederate
soldiers that fought for slavery to remain prominent in The United States of America. From the
point of view of the African American writer, Chelsey Carter, “If symbols have the power to
communicate, perpetuate, and develop human knowledge, we must create new symbolic
meanings that are not focused on maligning specific groups of people.” (Carter 141). As a result
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of the danger the confederate monuments bring into America, the American government should
remove the statues of the confederate soldiers and any monuments celebrating the confederacy
across America.
With the removal of the confederate monuments, America will become less racially
divided and the non-white community will feel less oppressed and more welcomed in the country
they call their home. This action will result in the non-white community not being offended or
feeling as if the American government is supporting the white supremacy seen throughout
American history. For example, it is not only the confederate monuments, but the confederate–
named schools too. From author Schragger, “Consider a high school named in honor of a
Confederate general, in which students who wish to participate in sports must wear jerseys
emblazoned with the name “Rebels.” (Schragger 57). It is unfair to force Americans to support
the past of the confederacy in anyway. The removal of the monuments, school names, and street
names, is the first step to the non-white community not feeling pressured by the white
community and the government to accept what happened to their ancestors during the time of
slavery and the Civil War.
By removing the confederate monuments, the non-white community will not feel
belittled or be reminded of their ancestors being betrayed when traveling throughout different
parts of America. The non-white community has made it clear they feel as if they are treated
unfair or differently than the citizens of the white community. The monuments can be portrayed
as the white community showing they had the power then and they will still have the power
today. From author Alex Barker, “Debates regarding Confederate monuments can then be
understood less as arguments about battles fought long ago than as contestations for power
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firmly rooted in and for the here and now.” (Barker). The citizens have a voice, and by law, are
allowed to use it. A voice is a powerful thing, and not letting it be silenced is important when it
comes to taking a stand.
The citizens of America who feel like the confederate monuments take away from the
hard work and effort it took for the non-white community to fight for their freedom, become
integrated with the whites in America, and overall equality can gather and create a petition for
the removal of the confederate monuments. This will be the first step in approaching the
government in a calm and professional way in order for the government to introduce a bill that
calls for the monuments to be removed. Protests gather the attention of the government as well,
which according to the Amendments of Constitution of the United States, “the right of the people
peaceably to assemble.” (All Amendments to the United States Constitution, Amendment 1). The
