Every country has great individuals or heroes who have, in one way or more impacted society positively during their time on earth, and when they still exist among us or no more, one of the ways we make their legacy known through building a monument in honour of them and also serve as an example meant to inspire the coming generations, to embody the ideals we collectively aspire to, and monuments can be in form of a statue or infrastructure.
Today, we have schools, churches, health centers, recreation center and so many more built in honour of these heroes who have impacted the nation or community, and some of their pictures are printed on our currency as well. So, what happens if a dirty secret is leaked about them? Should these monuments and tributes of those with questionable characters be removed? Should the said currency be renewed? Now this is a very tricky question, because mind you, not all of these monuments are statues that can easily be brought down with a wrecking ball.
There are schools, hospitals which not only stand as an honorary symbol, but also serve the community, and bringing them down because of one person's bad act doesn't solve the situation, it's more like doing a wrong thing to solve a wrong doing, as two wrongs doesn't make it right, better alternatives like changing the name of the school, repainting and removing whatever sculpture or statue that represents them is a better approach, as people look up to this people, we don't want to bring up a generation that feels it is right to involve themselves in same questionable act.
Also, ignoring these monuments or allowing them to stand unchallenged might still endorse their original meaning and reason why they were put in place in the first place, but there is a common saying that a bad deed is more likely to suppress the good deeds done before. Also, letting them be can also reflect to people that no one is perfect, depending on the very act committed, so people don't expect perfection all the time, as we all have our own flaws. The goal isn't to erase the past, but to ensure that the stories we tell our children to come are truthful to help them analyze and make better deciions themselves.
At the end of it all, maintaining balance should be the core purpose of the society, as we don't want to erase our history completely; we want to still preserve it and be morally accountable for every hero represented. We can still represent their good deeds without whitewashing them or erase theirf marks off history, but rather, as stated earlier, we must ensure to tell their stories truthfully, and also let others learn from their mistakes. Though it can be challenging holding these two sides of a person, the more reason dialogue is crucial because of how we remember our heroes and their shadows.
