Regarding The Flap Over Confederate Statues

[Rev. Rye]

We certainly can remember and discuss the darker aspects of our past, but, if we don't have to, do we?

Honestly, in your experience, has a statue of a civil war general caused you, or your kids (if applicable), or your spouse or your neighbors to "discuss the darker aspects of our past"?  I can't say I've seen statues encourage that kind of discussion, apart from field trips to monuments that kids/highschoolers already do as part of history classes.  Museums also have a plethora of exhibits dedicated to horrible parts in both the US' and the world's past, that do a fantastic job of confronting visitors with darker parts of our history without needing memorialized statues of individuals on a pedestal on public land.

Like I said, a museum is an interesting idea, but is it really feasible?

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The problem is the people's discussion doesn't often go beyond simply switching who's considered a "good guy" and a "bad guy" in the narrative. I mentioned the example with Andrew Jackson in Zinn's book, and I suspect that if people tried to look at it with more nuance, we  might actually be able to have this discussion more civilly, and we wouldn't have people using it as an excuse to run people over in their Dodges.

And you think a statue somehow would make the discussion more accurate?

If you put up plaques on the pedestals that put their actions into context, they might.