I originally wrote about this on my original blog here, but now this controversy is back in news headlines on this day, which prompts me to re-post my original thoughts on the problem when it originally occurred back in the summer of 2017.
Recently, one of the biggest headlines has been about the removal of statues of officers like Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, VA who served in the Confederate army during the civil war. As the New York Times reports, statues in many other cities like Baltimore and New Orleans are being removed. While the reasons for removal aren’t entirely clear, some possibilities include fears of public safety after the recent violence in Charlottesville, and the offensive nature of racism implied in Confederate soldiers fighting to preserve slavery – although the Civil War was fought to resist the expansion of the tax jurisdiction being imposed by President Abe Lincoln.
Although this post won’t go into the truth behind why the statues are being removed(to advance the politically correct agenda and provoke more violent riots), whether they ought to be removed(they shouldn’t), or whether the Confederacy was the evil side of the Civil War(It wasn’t, as more of their soldiers volunteered unlike the Union army which had to rely on slavery via forced conscription to raise the manpower to fight, of course, given that the war destroyed half the country’s population and economy, the Civil War was anything but civil, but that is a topic for another time).
What I’ll focus on is what people’s attitudes should be about statue removals. First of all, those statues aren’t private property – in most cases, they’re owned and controlled by the city governments. Therefore, none of the protestors or opponents to the statue removals have a right to the statues, unless any of them happen to be private property, which I heavily doubt.
As such, if people are truly upset about the disappearance of the statues, for the variety of good reasons like the erasure of poorly understood and poorly taught cultural history of the southern United States, sentimental connections to ancestors who served in the Confederate army, and the like, there is something that can be effectively done, and no it isn’t gather in public to protest.
Instead, why not erect statues on your own private property, maybe on your front lawns? This article from mises.org discusses the example of the Catholic Church took constructive action in Denver, CO by acquiring property on which they erected their own statues. Similarly, if you live in any of the former Confederate states and hate seeing statues removed, build some on your own property, make big bumper stickers on your cars, or ally yourselves with other folks who are also upset, buy some land, and erect statues there so that the public can see and appreciate the beautiful Southern antebellum cultural history(no I don’t mean slavery, but the folk songs, literature, and other aspects). After all, none of the people complaining have a right to those statues. Besides, would Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, or any of the other Confederate soldiers approve of putting the government in charge in preserving memorials of Confederate history? I’ll go out on a limb and say no.
They would probably be proud to see people putting up privately owned statues on private property which is protected by Western-style property rights and rule of law, or at least what remains of it in the U.S. After all, doing so is probably far easier and far less expensive than going out in public and protesting, oh and let’s not forget about the comparative lethal dangers.
Of course, I do understand we live in an age of zoning codes that restrict private property rights. There’s no guarantee that local police and government officials won’t harass you for erecting a statue of Robert E. Lee on your front lawn. While I’m not advocating breaking the law, there are ways to resist peacefully. If you do get harassed, have video cameras in place to expose the bully police for going after people like you instead of real criminals like Hillary Clinton and other murderers. Furthermore, rally your neighbors to also erect statues and other prominent memorabilia of Confederate history. This way, with power in numbers, you’re less likely to have police come your way to bother you. Just look at how the police stood down to the huge mob of Anti-Fa and Black Lives Matter thugs, as well as the opposing protesters, instead of doing their job and restoring order and ending the violence.
Confederate ancestors literally risked their lives on the battlefield in an unfortunately failed attempt to preserve states’ rights and other liberties. Although today’s problems may be arguable greater and more difficult than theirs, at least peaceful, non-bellicose, resistance is still possible. Of course, there are other ways to express resistance besides putting statues on one’s own private property, or acquiring property to do so like the Catholic Church in Denver did.
Or, I guess the other option is to complain, take no action, and lose the history and culture for which your ancestors died. It is the job of the descendants to preserve that history, not come up with excuses.