Personally, I don’t give a fuck about statues. I don’t feel one way or another about a statue honoring a person who died fighting for what they believed. But, hey, while we’re talking about it, let’s be honest, what they believed was complete horseshit. It’s best they lost; we’re all better off.
But if I’m looking at a statue that I don’t feel one way or another about, a participation trophy for the losing team, if you will, and someone comes up and says, “This statue reminds me of that time someone kidnapped, enslaved, abused, and raped my great-great grandmother.” And then millions of other people are like, “Yeah, us too!” Well, at that point I’m probably going to agree that the thing should probably come down.
Most Americans probably don’t care one way or another about these statues, when it comes right down to it. Then there are some people who really want them there, and some other people who really don’t want them there. It’s up to those of us who don’t really care to decide which group has the better argument.
Personally, I would like to see statues of enormous golden penises in the park, but that’s never going to happen. That won’t be permitted because millions of Americans don’t know how to explain that to their children.
Now, call me crazy, but I think, “This statue honors a person who did terrible things to my family” is a far better reason not to display something than, “You’re making it terribly difficult for me to continue concealing basic human anatomy from my children.”
