here s a special presentation of what i found during my travels. this is stone ghost in the south. in 2017, hundreds of white nationalists descended on charlottesville, virginia to defend the monuments of robert e. lee. their arrival marks the beginnings of 24 hour violent clashes with protesters. one person was killed. others beaten and bloody. [inaudible] [noise] after the unlawful assembly was declared, it was literally manifested. it felt like we won. that is when we heard this loud bang.
war. and the nation and denial. halted by and fiddler passed and the stories it refuses to tell. from flags and monuments in the town square, to cemeteries. we, the living, continue to grapple with how to confront this singular event of national trauma and the horrific system of slavery and its roots. and will continue doing that, during this reckoning in america. it s what s compelled me to explore how contested and personal this event remains. and in the months after george floyd was killed by minneapolis police, many monuments were taken down in the united states. that is also what happened in 2017, after heather was murdered in charlottesville, virginia. while protesting a white supremacist demonstration. 30 confederate monuments came down that year. that s the year i began studying our country s stone ghosts. what it means to people who built them, and what it means to people who tore them down.
not. before leaving town, we hear that there is one more stop we should make if we really want to understand what keep so many southern whites rooted to the confederacy. first, could you do you mind spelling and saying your first and last name for us? my first name is gordon, g o r d o, and and cotton, co tio, and just like you pick. so, with all the confederate statues and the, flag is it time for us to move forward? no, because if we move forward, we re going to leave everything else out of our history. are we going to be selective in what we are going to keep and what we are gonna forget? but, what about this idea that these men were fighting to maintain that system of slavery? that was not it all, they were fighting because our homes were invaded. the whole thing was based on money. most things are. going back to the charlottesville, someone was killed someone was shot and someone else was beaten up. does it surprise you to see that some people are beloved to
nationalists descended on charlottesville, virginia to defend the monuments of robert e. lee. that marks the beginnings of 24 hour violent clashes with protesters. one person was killed. others beaten and bloody. [inaudible] [noise] after the unlawful assembly was declared. it was literally manifested. it felt like we won. i heard this loud bang. [noise] one car got pushed into the intersection. another car got pushed in right behind it. it was just utter chaos. it is hard to imagine that such a big moment, had to be in this little space. but that is common in america. these big moments and little spaces. absolutely. this is what we learn. all of these small spaces have set the stage for huge explosions.
and just like you pick. so, with all the confederate statues and the, flag is it time for us to move forward? no, because if we move forward, we re going to leave everything else out of our history. are we going to be selective and what we are going to keep in what we are gonna forget? but, what about this idea that these men were fighting to maintain that system of slavery? that was it all, they were fighting because our homes were invaded. the whole thing was based on money. most things are. going back to the charlottesville was killed someone was shot and someone else was beaten up. does it surprise you want to see that some people are beloved to but their support in defense of robert e. lee and the rest? well, they aren t the ones that started it. defending, it yes, i can understand that. but they are not the ones who started. it had the people not wanted to tear down a beautiful monument, it would ve happened. perhaps they should be moved