Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

waitforsigns64 t1_iucmnyn wrote

Grew up in Richmond fro 60s to 80s. Lived in Henrico which was one of the original white flight areas after Richmond integrated. I went to school and college with the casual racists like Young and his blackface. My high school played Dixie as our school song and waved a rebel flag. I never thought I would see this day. I cried tears of joy when they took Lee down. Monument avenue now does not make me cringe.

It's about time.

105

worthing0101 t1_iue63jk wrote

I lived in Richmond from the 70s to the 90s and experienced some of the same. (Lived in Lakeside then Glen Allen) I remember having to visit the monuments and do book reports on them in school. It brings me great joy that these statues are finally gone.

It also makes me laugh that the only statue left is the statue of Arthur Ashe .

17

waitforsigns64 t1_iuhgp9w wrote

Yes! I love Arthur being there too! I remember it was a big deal when that statue was placed.

Wonder what they will put in those spots. Anything? Nothing?

1

Remarkable_Swim5520 t1_iue9crv wrote

Why is the removal of historic monuments a good thing?

−40

worthing0101 t1_iuedl4a wrote

If you don't already understand why we shouldn't honor men who fought to preserve slavery then nothing I say is going to help you understand.

23

Remarkable_Swim5520 t1_iuem5t9 wrote

They were not fighting to preserve slavery.

−32

mattaw2001 t1_iuep5iq wrote

They certainly thought, campaigned, gave speeches and wrote that they were. What evidence do you have that they didn't?

For example, in his widely reported and printed cornerstone speech declaring the independence of the confederacy Alexander H. Stephens, the Confederate vice president and one of the most perceptive and brightest men in the Confederate government declared that, “Our new government is founded upon . . . its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery – subordination to the superior race – is his natural and normal condition.” Stephens denounced the northern claims (which he incorrectly attributed to Thomas Jefferson) that the “enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically.” He unabashedly asserted: “Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea.” Stephens argued that it was “insanity” to believe “that the negro is equal” or “that slavery was wrong.” He proudly predicted that the Confederate Constitution “has put at rest, forever, all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institution-African slavery as it exists amongst us-the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization.”

21

easy_Money t1_iuenv8e wrote

Whether or not it was the primary reason they were fighting, it's still one of the reasons. Not all Nazis were fighting exclusively to exterminate the Jews either. Stop being an apologist for racist traitors.

5