the confederacy didn t fight to unite the united states of america. we should be focused on how to be a more united city, state, country. days after violent protests sparked in part because of robert e. lee statue in charlottesville, virginia, government officials in at least nine other states are publicly contemplating the fates of their memorials to those who fought for slavery on the losing confederate side. in durham north carolina, some broke the law and took matters into their own hands. another nationwide debate about whether the monuments set in stone honor heritage or hate. were they erected by grieving mothers of confederate soldiers or by someone else? southern poverty law center says the majority of 700 confederate monuments in public spaces were erected decades after general lee s surrender. they were erected when they were erected at the same time white southerners, conservative white southerners were if you
racism in our country. we have a chance for every person in public office, hasson obligation to speak truth and demand what s right. and in this case, it is the removal of those monuments. i will say this other piece. i want to give great credit to the managers of stone mountain park. they ve done an excellent job of trying contextualize and turn the park into a museum. and that has happened over the last few years. but the problem with that is, unless you have the head phones on, unless you re walking through with the intention of learning, all you see is a giant monument to racism. that cannot stand. and in light of donald trump s press conference today, a really extraordinary display in which he took side of the people who marched to stave robert e. lee statue in charlottesville, what did you make of it? and what should republican dozen in response in your view? well, first of all, donald trump s press conference today.
president s strategic and policy forum and the protests that broke out in charlotteville. and will not matter if we do not address the divisions in our country if is a leaders role in business or government to bring people together, not tear them apart. next, what it takes to change, a conversation with a former white supremacist who has a powerful mess an. it is never too late to stop the hate.
e. lee statue in charlottesville s emancipation park. he was confronted by protesters, ample police intervened and escorted him to a squad car and drove off. that, as activists rented her down the lead statue on their own with chains and trucks were a bulldozer. it s going to happen, jamie dyer told the richmond times dispatch. this is a beautifully question and charge you and i don t want to be like the delavan or bolsheviks but this has to go. that s happened in durham, north carolina. protesters, some representing the world workers party, surrounded 1924 statue of a confederate soldier, slipped a court over its neck and yanked it down. lee stood by and only later promised action. let me be very clear. don t make don t mistake restraint for inaction. no one is getting away with this. at 26 teen, north carolina passed a law that prohibits removing monuments on public property without permission of e historical commission. there are over 1500 confederate symbols in u.s. public spac
confederate symbols, the list is long. these are cities that are either removing or considering it. nashville, baltimore, louisville, jacksonville, lexington, gainesville. if you look at next map, the red dots, they represent 718 confederate monuments and statues that remain. 300 of them in georgia, virginia, or north carolina. according to the southern poverty law center. in addition to that number, there are 109 public schools named for robert e. lee, the confederate president, jefferson davis rather. more figures in the civil war era in the south. we wonder where it goes from here. this really is one of the fundamental statements the president is making. what do you do with this? he said ultimately where does it stop. i think more speech is better