Since the Henry County Board of Commissioners voted to remove the statue of the Confederate soldier from the square, there has been a fast response to prevent the removal. A petition was created with fear as the backbone. Fear of historical erasure. Fear of repeating the past. It was done to provoke outrage for something that shouldn’t be seen as outrageous in an attempt to stoke the flames of a culture war between the right and the left however this issue isn’t one of right and left. This issue is one of compassion.

As it stands, this statue works as a monument to the historical southern backlash to the fight for civil rights throughout the 20th century and ignoring the context in which it was erected leads to ignorance in how it is perceived now. If one chooses to read the inscription on the monument they would start to understand why it is so troublesome. It reads, "To our Confederate soldiers, those who fell in fiercest fighting and sleeping beneath the sod of every southern state, those who have passed away in the after years of peace, and whose ashes now hallow old Henry’s hill sides, those who like a benediction, still limp in our midst. May God preserve forever in our hearts, their memory and in all minds, a knowledge of their motives and their cause." The key parts of this inscription pointing to the racist history behind this statue are the "benediction" of Confederate soldiers alive and dead, and the wish for god to preserve the "knowledge of their motives and their cause."

The statue makes it clear that it is meant to glorify those who fought and died in the in the fight for slave labor. In Alexander Stephen's cornerstone speech, he said, "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." 

The secession of the southern states was to establish a country in which slavery was not only the norm but also white supremacy and that is an undeniable historical fact. This is the motive and the cause for the Confederate fight and that is what is being glorified in this statue.

To further prove my point, let us look at the history behind the organization which erected the statue: The United Daughters of the Confederacy. This organization was one of the many who propagated the Lost Cause ideology in an attempt to legitimize segregation and racial injustice. It also worked closely with the KKK and even 26 years after the statue was erected, they praised the efforts of the Klan in their publications. This organization historically built statue after statue and vetted countless textbooks in order to peddle their lost cause and Neo-Confederate ideology and the idea that the south was justified in its fight for slavery. This statue is a remnant of their efforts to normalize white supremacy and deify the confederate soldiers.

As I said earlier, the removal of this statue isn't one of right or left, but rather one of compassion. Knowing the history behind its creation and what it represents, is it hard to believe that minority citizens of Henry County would feel unwelcome because of it? Why should we leave this monument to racism in the public square where it looms over our black and brown neighbors like a sign that says they don't belong here? Why should we leave this statue in a place where it continues to spark pain and outrage? It is clear to me and many others that it does not belong where it stands and would serve the purpose of a historical reminder elsewhere.

To those who scream about historical erasure, I have just a few things to say. First off, the removal of this statue does not mean it will be destroyed, rather moved to a more appropriate place. If you are concerned with historical erasure, petition the henry county BOE to add local civil war curriculum into our schooling and petition the Board of Commissioners to move the statue to a museum. Secondly, the existence of statues is not necessary for the remembrance of the past. For example, one doesn't need statues of Nazi generals in public squares of Germany to remember the atrocities in the areas. While these are different circumstances, the point remains. Why should we leave statues to those who fought for heinous things? Lastly, to those who say its removal is unpatriotic, the secession of the Confederate states was the most unpatriotic thing possible as it was the literal removal of themselves from the union so why is it unpatriotic to remove statues dedicated to traitors to the US?

There is no good reason to leave this statue in the square other than to continue its intended purpose, to make a feeling of divide and unease in minority communities therefore it must go. Please sign this petition and share it to spread the word about the history behind the statue and to encourage the continuance of its removal.