Read more at sojo.net ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [[link removed]] Rejecting Symbols of Hate [[link removed]] Jim WallisWhat’s been the message of Confederate monuments and flags? It depends on who
you are. If you’re a Black teenager in the South, each day passing a memorial to
someone who committed treason in order to keep your ancestors enslaved, how
might that make you feel? If you’re a white American who still points to the
“heritage” of the “lost cause," it might further ingrain your denial of the
brutality of slavery and how racism continues today. A nation that still honors
Confederate signs in public places signals its belief that Black people are less
important than white people, that Black people’s trauma can be disregarded.
Confederate flags signal to the public that it’s okay to keep ignoring the worst
and ugliest sins of our past, while trying to create an impenetrable barrier to
a different and better future.

Let’s be very clear: Tearing down symbols is not enough. Changing statues can
never substitute changing policies and practices based on skin color, which
still undergirds this country’s systematic racism. But symbols do send clear
messages about personal and national memory — and about future possibilities.

The surging, nationwide movement in defense and support of Black lives, sparked
by the killing of George Floyd, has led to a renewed debate over the symbols and
signals of white supremacy that persist throughout the United States —
Confederate monuments and flags, but also statues, streets, buildings, military
bases, and other spaces and objects memorializing historical figures known for
their treason, racism, and oppression. Confederate statues, as well as statues
of Christopher Columbus and other colonizers, have been sprayed with graffiti
and, in some cases, torn down by groups of protesters in recent weeks. A number
of mayors and governors have announced their intention to remove these symbols
of racial oppression and hate.

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