The Purpose of Memorials and Monuments
The summer 2020 movements in the U.S, which protested over the removal of several statues honoring confederate leaders, enslavers, and white supremacists, raised many concerns about the purpose of memorials and monuments and their impacts into people’s lives. Monuments and memorials serve various functions in the society in which they are erected. At times, individuals of the state or community make monuments or memorials to portray statements about ideas, values, or individuals they want the society to remember or honor. These structures are meant to influence communities’ understanding of the subject of their commemoration even though they also reveal some of the people’s believes and specific times of their creation. Therefore, these structures serve as historical artifacts to the community within which they are raised. Monuments and memorials also help people remember major events and historical figures. For example, the statue of General Robert Lee brings a public memory in American about the event that took place in 1890, which involved racism and violence.
Joan Freeman’s statement that statues are a public tribute to human form ideas expresses different views based on confederate leaders’ statues. Confederate monuments and memorial established as the public are used to display important information in America’s historical events. The statues of confederate leaders express American history that is studied in schools and museums. According to Freeman, Confederate monuments do not symbolize civil war but instead the resistance to emancipation and civil rights between 1895 and 1920.
Some people in the U.S are asking to take the statues down following the supremacist protests against racial justice that they believe were contributed by statues of confederate leaders who advocated racism. For example, the portrayed of confederate generals in the courtrooms play a part in sending the unpalatable message that some community members are less worthwhile and less likely to receive impartial justice than others. By removing the confederate statues, the U.S is trying to move from the memories of white supremacy by erasing their history. As such, the U.S will primarily fight slavery, preserved in the confederate statues by historians.
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