All across the country, indeed, all across the globe, racist statues are tumbling down, and rightfully so.
Overwhelmingly they are statues dedicated to sociopathic men who were revered for subjugating non-white populations, or for fighting to maintain slavery, or were men who profited mightily from slavery or genocide.
Debate swirls about it.
Some think that by tearing them down, history is being erased and forgotten.
Some think they should still be in place, honoring men who may have had some bad traits or made bad decisions, but who were “men of their times” and shouldn’t be judged by modern standards, even though throughout history, the standard of “love thy neighbor as thyself” was supposedly the core of the belief system that the racists forced on everyone, on pain of death, frequently.
Some think...well, the array of opinions seems as vast as the populace observing the tumult.
This is what I suggest:
Collect many of those statues and build a Museum of Racism to house them, each with a full and honest history of who they were, what they did, why the society from which they sprang chose to honor them, and the consequences of their actions and beliefs.
In short, a full context, including past and present, so that future generations may more fully understand how we got to where we are. That should include their writings justifying their actions so that people can get a glimpse into the workings of the racist minds who thought slavery, genocide and ethnic cleansing was a way to worship their god, with that god’s full blessings
A virtual version should be available alongside the physical so that it can be a world-wide resource to fight against those evils.
What do you think should be done with them?