Confederate Statues Are Not ‘Trophies’

One of the easiest ways to demonize your ideological opponents when you don’t have an actual argument is finding creative ways to use their own words against them. Unfortunately, this tactic tends to backfire.

In this image, we see a familiar character presented as a Trump supporter struggling to choose between preserving history and somehow rewarding “losers” with trophies. From this, we’re supposed to walk away with the idea that President Donald Trump and his supporters are hypocritical for wanting historic Confederate statues to remain where they are.

This logic misses the point entirely. The purpose of statues of Confederate figures such as Robert E. Lee is to immortalize history for the lessons contained within, not out of any sense of veneration or even lukewarm respect.

We see examples of this on the left as well. There are dozens of statues of communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, for example, whose reign of Russia included the imprisonment and execution of political dissidents. You don’t see any calls from ideologues to take these statues down, and for good reason — this imagery prompts further investigation into the actual history behind these figures.

Now, there are certainly people living in the American South who still sympathize with the Confederate cause in the Civil War. But suggesting their influence on the rest of the body politic is in any way significant outside of their little hive minds is grossly misguided at best.

~ Facts Not Memes


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