This question is really not that easy, at first you might think it is simple, It is actually not, You might want to say yes get rid of them.... But see the more you think about history and the people the more confusing it gets.
History is about people and we already know people are not perfect, Some people did good things and some people did terrible things and some of them did both good and terrible things at the same time, so what do we do with history when it is not simple and not straightforward?
Let's establish the fact that History is complicated and people who made history are somehow complicated too, so now what do we do when history is messy and not easy to understand?
I do not think the answer is extreme on either side, I do not think we should automatically remove every monument the moment we discover a secret or harmful thing about a monuments.. I also, i do not think we should blindly keep honouring the people whose actions caused deep harm to others.
First we need to think about something that is really important, Monuments are not just things that remind us of the past they are also symbols of honour, when you build a monument for someone or name a school after them you are not just saying that this person was alive you are saying that monuments and the person they honour deserve to be remembered and respected and this is indeed a powerful thing, so if we find out something, about the person that a monument honours something that shows they were cruel or corrupt or that they hurt people, see truth, it is fair for people to ask if the monument should still be there to honour them or not, we should think about monuments and the people they honour and ask if they still deserve our respect. Monuments and the people they honour are important, we should think carefully about who we honour with monuments.
And yes at the time now removing everything can feel like trying to erase the history and the history no matter how ugly the history it is still the history you see, so if we start taking down every figure who had a questionable character we may end up realizing that many historical leaders, many inventors and many heroes were really flawed very flawed in fact.. does that mean we erase all the historical leaders, all the inventors and all the heroes, from the history? I think probably not. Because it is already what it is.
I believe the best way to handle this, is to find a balance, If a monument is there to honor someone who did bad things then it is probably a good idea to take it down, especially if the monument is hurting people who were affected by that persons actions.
It does not seem fair that people should have to see a statue of someone who treated their family badly, monuments like that can be very painful for communities that suffered because of that person.
When we think about people who have done something good but also done some very bad things we have to consider how to remember the maybe we should not get rid of the reminders of these people, maybe we can add information about them, we can add signs that tell the story of what they did, this way people will know about the things they did and the bad things they did too, we should not just show the good sides of these people, we should tell people everything, the good and the bad so they can understand the story.
A monument is more about learning when it is done that way than just being something to celebrate, The monument becomes a place where people can learn something and that is what the monument is, to be educational instead of just celebratory.
We grow as a society when we confront the truths about humans and history truthfully, this is how we learn and get better.
We have to be careful when we think about the past, and yes we should not judge people from a time ago based on the rules we have today, We need to understand what life was like for them then, this does not mean we should excuse the things that they did.. It just does help us understand why they did those things. The thing is, growth happens when we take the time to understand things.
It does not happen when we just react to things without thinking, understanding the past, like the actions of people in the past, is very important, for growth and growth comes from understanding not from reacting to things.
For me it is not that easy to get rid of all monuments or to keep all monuments, it now it depends on what the people who the monuments are about did, how that affects the communities that are around today and what the monument is really for.
If a statue does not represent our values anymore then we have the right to question it, remodel maybe, Instead of getting rid of it quickly, yes , we should focus on learning from history the good things and the bad things, we should try to understand it and teach others about it.
Because to be honest here, history is not about really perfect heroes, It is about real people, their flaws and everything inclusive.
