Aug 15, 2017 2 min read

The brief media report was delivered factually and devoid of emotion.

“Yesterday, ‘protesters’ tore down a monument of a Confederate soldier that stood in Durham, N.C., since 1924.” The accompanying video showed the group performing the act. It took place in the city center, in broad daylight, under the watchful eye of city authorities and members of the media.

There were no arrests. There were no counter-protests, only jubilation as the bronze figure of a Confederate soldier on horseback was pulled to the ground. The statue, which stood in homage to the approximately 1 million who served and 483,000 Southern Americans who died in the Civil War was then kicked and spat upon as one man lovingly played guitar. From the benign reporting, we are to assume that because of its righteousness, Confederate shaming is to be expected and will take place in a vacuum. Americans with ancestors who fought and/or died as members of the Confederacy should not be emotionally affected by this movement. If that family in Mississippi with the picture of their great grandfather in uniform on their mantle does not feel ashamed, they should. They are, as they say, “on the wrong side of history.”

Ed McCauley

Peters Township