Confederate Statues Are Ultimately Monuments to Slavery

Anyone who argues that symbols of the Confederacy are about states' rights is willfully ignoring the express purpose of the Confederacy: slavery. Multiple states clearly stated this belief when they seceded. "Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery—the greatest material interest of the world," wrote Mississippi when it seceded, adding, "a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization." South Carolina, the first state to secede, used the word "slave" or "slavery" more than a dozen times in its declaration of secession. The Confederacy was about fighting to keep slavery, and therefore statues of its leaders are effectively monuments to slavery. Many of the men cast in stone fought and died to keep the institution of slavery intact. By honoring these men and their cause, we glorify the institution of slavery itself. This horrific institution stole the lives of millions of people and their offspring. Any symbols that glorify this bloody history must be toppled.