Place Confederate Statues in Museums

Growing up, I remember feeling this overwhelming sense of security as a citizen in a nation that embraced a melting pot of various backgrounds, especially relative to other places in the world. At the Harkness table and even as I’m writing this piece, I still do feel that entitlement to my freedom of speech so embedded in the very legal fabric of this nation. At the same time, as I exit our Exeter bubble and re-enter my hometown in Loudoun County, Virginia for the extended breaks, I’m immediately reminded of a more realistic view of the cultural climate pervading the country. Juxtaposed with that comfortable mental image of a melting pot and cultural acceptance, it’s always a disconcerting sight to pass by the county circuit court, only to see it obstructed by a controversial statue of a Confederate soldier. In a complex right outside of my community, I can glimpse an “Open” sign accompanied by a Confederate flag on the window of an antique shop. As we’ve recently delved into in our recent discussions of cultural competence here at Exeter, we cannot deny the existence of a seemingly invisible but very significant divide that severs the nation.

Statues are now symbols, not just the people they depict.

But, the present cultural situation and the opinions of the individuals that create this political divisiveness are undoubtedly easier to judge. With the abundance of digital resources in today’s world, we have easy access to the opinions of our leaders and political figures. On the other hand, the past is much murkier to fully comprehend: often, we miss the complete picture, and as a result, it is difficult to judge the intent of these monuments versus their perception and the consequent actions taken towards them. In order to compromise, I believe that controversial statues should be removed from places of prominence and relocated to specific museums.

During this polarizing period in our country’s history, we’ve witnessed heated debates regarding the deep racial divides that run in our country and how Confederate statues play into those issues. As incriminating as the majority opinion is on issues of controversial statues, right around the time of the report, The New York Times Archives retrieved and published a letter addressed to them from Robert E. Lee, who seemed genuinely remorseful and indicated his intention of freeing his slaves within five years. So clearly, we can’t fully condemn Robert E. Lee and other Confederates.

However, the debate surrounding Confederate monuments has transcended the idea of just judging an individual. The first thing we learn in middle school history class is that Robert E. Lee was a Confederate leader, and we do not learn of the regret he exhibited towards slavery displayed in his later years. Statues are now symbols, not just the people they depict. The symbol can bring about an incisive hurt that shakes so many of our fellow citizens to their cores. Even as we move on and try to overcome cultural boundaries as a school and as a society overall, these symbols can be fairly interpreted as impediments to noble causes of unifying our divided society. From another perspective, the Confederate statues symbolize a chapter of American history. We have to be considerate of those who feel an ancestral tie to those who gave their lives to the Confederate side. Some also feel, by general principle, that taking down such controversial statues would be like erasing history, a censorship that is antithetical to our nation’s values of freedom of expression. To completely expunge those statues from existence wouldn’t be fitting for a society that strives to be as inclusive and culturally accommodating as possible. In order to reconcile both sides of the argument, a museum puts the statues into the right context: history.

A museum is also the most rational solution from a practical standpoint. There’s a freedom that is allotted in the choice to view a museum’s exhibits that fosters acceptance. Those who feel offended by the statues will no longer have to feel threatened by the hurtful ideologies that the these statues represent. Those that would like to not have the monuments moved on sensible grounds can feel free to visit the museum without being construed to be espousing hateful ideologies. The major point of contention in this situation is that we can’t lean to either extreme solutions. Leaving the statues as they are in such a time of debate can legitimize hateful groups and their deleterious ideologies such as condoning racist notions towards ethnic minorities. Completely removing the statues evidently upsets other citizens, but there’s also another major detriment in the long run. We would be setting a precedent for the future of our nation by completely disregarding other opinions. The issue of Confederate statues is more convoluted than debates on white nationalism in that proponents of the statues are not all unanimously espousing destructive and hateful ideologies, many can feel a tie to the statues in the people depicted. The museum idea is more than just a half-hearted solution: we can show how much we’ve truly progressed as a nation if we can consolidate such a compromise that caters to all sensible opinions. We can take that crucial step towards achieving the idealistic melting pot and diverse haven that I and so many of us aspire towards.