Should Confederate statues be removed from Gettysburg National Park?

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   promisemposted 6 years ago

   Should Confederate statues be removed from Gettysburg National Park?
   
   Gettysburg is a public park supported by taxpayer dollars. It has 1,328 statues and memorials honoring both sides of the bloodiest battle in the Civil War. Is it racist to have Confederate statues there?
   
   

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2. 89

   Patty Inglish, MSposted 6 years ago

   I think the park represents both sides in history and parents and teachers need to educate our youth about slavery and it's harm/unfair exploitation; and about US leaders who had owned slaves and even my Iroquois ancestors who owned black slaves. Leave this  park's statues up and talk about them intelligently to educate those who do not know.

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   1. 0

      promisemposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Excellent answer. Thanks, Patty.

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3. 87

   MizBejabbersposted 6 years ago

   Shades of 1984, George Orwell and Doublethink! It took two sides to fight that war, therefore it it can't be racist to have both sides of the war represented in a national park that depicts history of the battle that  defeated the south. It would defeat the purpose of having a national park to represent the battle. How would you depict it without representing both sides? It would be like saying that there was only one side fighting the war, and that would raise the question "whom were they fighting against.  If the statues were to be removed, then the park should be disbanded and no representation of anyone should be made. I hope no one is proposing that. But some greedy souls are wanting to build a mall there anyway, so I suppose that's what raised this issue?
   Now there is a movement to remove Confederate statutes from the Alamo because former confederate soldiers fought and died there. This is ridiculous! In 2013, Living history reenactors actually honored Mexican soldiers who fell at the Alamo. There is a statue of General Lasoya a block from the Plaza. The featured speaker said “The tragedy is that one side has celebrated itself more than the other.” He also said ".. the fight involved two competing historical forces, each side driven by principle."
   
   http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_ … 343914.php
   
   So what relevance has this to the Confederate statue issue? Plenty, same difference, as they say, because it seems that if you aren't black or a Northern white elitist, you have no rights left in this country. One of my best friends is an African American and a lawyer, and she agrees that Confederate statues are an integral part of the history of the United States. That doesn't mean that she approves of slavery; she is just recognizing our history and acknowledging the rights of others.

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4. 93

   lisavollrathposted 6 years ago

   Although I'm for removing Confederate statues from places like college campuses and out in front of city halls, I think the statues at Gettysburg should stay.
   
   Many of the statues being taken down now were not put up to commemorate history, but to promote a certain agenda during Jim Crow, and again during the Civil Rights Movement. There is no good reason to have statues celebrating the Confederate "heroes" that fought to keep slavery alive. Their place is now in history books, and museums.
   
   During the Civil War, a significant battle was fought at Gettysburg, and people visiting the area are likely doing so because they're interested in the history. Because it is an historic battlefield, it sort of makes sense to have statues representing both sides of the conflict.

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