Discussion for article #232956
Leave it as it is.
Donāt try to change history for PC reasons.
If you change it, in less than a generation no one will ever know about the segregated US Military.
It is important for people to learn and understand history in all itās warts and scars.
āThose who refuse to learn from History are doomed to repeat it.ā
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Leave it as is. Remind everyone that 100 years ago ācoloredā men died defending a nation that barely recognized them as citizens.
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Good intentions but bad, bad ideaā¦
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Hey, can someone put up a monument stating that Robert E. Lee and the rest of the Confederate Army were traitors to our nation? THAT is a historical fact that does not need to be altered.
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Remember the old saw about those who forget history? Its a whole lot easier to do once you rewrite it like this.
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Interesting
-my first thought was "gee, Iām amazed that the original plaque actually listed all of the individualsāā¦ would not have surprised me if it had only shown the āwhiteā soldiers ā¦
So, with that and other thoughts in mind, it would seem best to leave it just as it is - an accurate accounting of lives lost and an accurate representation of how the society of that time recognized thingsā¦
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Leave it and an explanation of what was done, why it was wrong and how weā fixed itā¦well ok how were still working on it but at least we admit it was wrongā¦well ok a majority of us think it was wrongā¦ok a lotā¦
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I agree and if weāre going to change monuments, I believe that EVERY confederate memorial in the country should be destroyedā¦what kind of nation allows monuments to its traitors???
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Iām going along with the leave-it-as-it-is side. Itās not analogous to a ācolored-onlyā drinking fountain ā other than one that appears in a museum display ā because as a memorial it preserves the past much as a museum display does and doesnāt impose a race-based separation on the present. Itās important to maintain visible reminders of this time in our past, ugly as it was. I would no more have the plaque refurbished than have the ān-wordā taken out of Huck Finn. We need these things to bear witness to our racist past.
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I agree with keeping the sign as it is, but some provision should be made to place a marker alongside the old one that explains why, and the context. Here in SC, the far-out-there rednecks leap on the āheritage, not hateā rationale like flies on a pile of horseshit. They used that stellar illogic successfully for decades before the legislature arrived at its craven decision to move the traitorous, barbaric Confederate flag from the roof to the front yard.
The mayorās thought that this is racism lurking behind historyās skirts reflects what many feel, at least the apparent minority here in SC who are capable of cultural shame.
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"-my first thought was āgee, Iām amazed that the original plaque actually listed all of the individualsāā¦ would not have surprised me if it had only shown the āwhiteā soldiers ā¦ā
Or that there would be different plaques, in different parts of town. I wonder if in 1919, when this was done, this joint listing was actually a sign of progress.
I agree with the mayor. We do not need a memorial celebrating war heroes that separates them by race as a historical reminder that segregation existed. We have history books for that.
Thereās too much revisionist history being promulgated by the right already. This stands as immutable testimony to our not-too-distant history as a nation. It must be preserved.
Iām still waiting for the rest of America to celebrate āConfederate Shame Month.ā
There are no memorials to Hitler in Germany. Thatās because the Germans were held accountable. America gave the traitors a pass after the Civil War and weāre living that down to this very day.
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Personally I think the biggest sign of progress is that the request came from the American Legion. Not exactly the bastion of liberalism.