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I see some people making the 'removing statues is erasing history' argument.
As someone with a degree in European History, let me explain my view on why this doesn't hold water.
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As someone with a degree in European History, let me explain my view on why this doesn't hold water.
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Statues celebrate, memorials commemorate.
A statue doesn't teach real history. Its only purpose is, and has always been, to send a message of glorification.
A statue doesn't teach real history. Its only purpose is, and has always been, to send a message of glorification.
These statues, whether #LeopoldII in Belgium, #Colston in Britain or #GeneralLee in America, were erected decades after these people lived.
And they were built for specific reasons that said more about the present than the past.
And they were built for specific reasons that said more about the present than the past.
