i'm not one to hold on to monuments of the past for the sake of it; if a historic church is in the way of a new development, and the new development is a useful allocation of space, i'm generally going to be in favour of tearing the church down. in that sense, i'll be the first to argue for tearing down monuments to failed ideologies - whether those monuments be to the confederacy or to the church or to any other institution that has held back progress.

but, i realize the importance of maintaining history where it's warranted, as well; i'm not a member of the taliban.

there's lots of reasons to be careful about this. the statues and monuments are, after all, public art. sometimes they're representative of a certain style that existed in a certain period, and have value in their maintenance for studies of art history. others have inscriptions that should be maintained for the historical record. generally speaking, statues of this sort experience the end of their lives, which can exist in debilitating lapses into dementia, in the retirement homes of art museums - and often to protect them from looters or vandals. it seems like it's time to put some of these statues away.

but, again, it's important to listen to what people are saying, and be leery of voices that want to destroy history, outright - and make sure they do not come into positions of power.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/protesters-arrest-confederate-statue-durham_us_5995b749e4b0acc593e5ef8b