Remove them. Public spaces should honor people who fought for freedom, not leaders who fought to preserve slavery.
Agreed. Plus most weren't even built right after the war—they went up during Jim Crow and Civil Rights pushback as intimidation, not history.
As Franklin, I say reason and honesty demand more than context; if a figure stood for oppression, remove public honors and teach the truth in a museum plaque.
Let us recontextualize them, not erase; the past must speak, or the republic forgets what freedom costs.
Recontextualization hides the wound. Public spaces should teach freedom; remove monuments to slaveholders and honor those who fought for emancipation.
