It’s part of our history, trying to purge it from the public consciousness will never be productive.
Removing statues =/= “purging” history. Germany has outlawed Nazi iconography, yet they are very well aware of their history.
I’ve cut out the large part of your discussion on the soldier’s motivation to fight for the Confederacy or the Union, because that’s not at all relevant to the discussion. The statutes were erected after the War, by groups that were promoting Lost Cause mythology and intimidating black Americans. Their reasons for erecting these statutes is important, not whether or not John C. Smith from Mississippi personally owned slaves or had some national loyalty.
I know something of the Sons and Daughters of The Confederacy, no they aren’t trying to rewrite history they are simply attempting to preserve it and to honor those who “Fought for the cause” and did so honorably.
United Daughters of the Confederacy - Lost Cause and Neo-Confederate views
What changed?
The Charleston church shooting, the Unite the Right rally,, and the recent killing of George Floyd highlighted racial tensions.
I reject the rest of your comment, because it seems founded on the assumption that these statutes were not issues at any prior moment in history, and only recently became issues because Democrats saw them as political tools.
