Local Reaction to Removal of Confederate Monuments

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Tensions are high across the country about the removal of monuments that pay tribute to the Confederacy.
Like President Donald Trump said on Monday-some people believe it’s changing history.

“If they’re going to get rid of one monument then they need to get rid of all of them. I love Martin Luther King but if you’re going to get rid of those monuments then you’ve got to get rid of his,” says Wanda Ellis.

While we were not able to talk to Southern Poverty Law Center officials. A  map on the organization’s website shows the locations of thousands of confederate monuments aound the country. It’s  for that reason the organization is urging people to write their local newspaper with hopes of having them removed.

Thoralf Iceland, an intern with the Equal Justice Initiative,  is currently researching the issue and agrees.

“All of them really are offensive and I think it totally makes sense to take them down especially considering that a lot of them were erected or brought about by organizations like the Daughters of the Confederacy or things like that-groups that openly support white supremacy,” says Iceland.

Montgomery alone is home to several confederate monuments, standing tall at the state capitol or at Robert E. Lee High School.  People that view them each day believe they should could continue to stand as a reminder of history.

“I do think they are offensive to some people and I do understand why. They represent slavery. Slavery was wrong but I feel if you remove them, you remove a part of history. If you don’t remember that history, if you don’t teach that history you run the risk of repeating history and we certainly don’t want that to happen,” says Christi Corsino.

“They’re part of American history. Anyone that actually knows American history knows that it’s not a pretty history. It has pretty parts and it has ugly parts,” says Marshaun Ellis.

Some people say they understand the offense. But it’s something that should not be taken away.

“Being a black woman myself-living at that time when the offense was occuring. But I think they should leave them alone because to me it’s history,” says Wanda Ellis.