Destroying statues won’t change nation’s history

When did destroying public property become acceptable? Tearing down statues isn’t going to change what this country was. The local newspaper printed only 32% of Americans want to remove controversial statues. Once again, the minority seems to rule.

It saddens me to learn the Confederate soldier on Bentonville Square will soon be removed. You can look at the soldier and say it represents slavery or you can put away your whining and take a visit to the local library and actually learn something about the brave, valiant and loyal men who fought for the Confederacy. The majority of the soldiers didn’t even own slaves.

Taking down that statue isn’t going to change the fact Arkansas was part of the Confederacy. It’s a part of what we were. It’s also a reminder of how division can destroy a country and how important it is not to make that mistake again.

If you take down the Confederate soldier statues, are you going after the Union statues next? Why not the statues of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson? They were both slave owners. Maybe we should blow up Mount Rushmore. What about the Statue of Liberty? She welcomed the Irish, who were also enslaved. Will the Jewish people rant and want the statues and crosses of Jesus torn down, too? We already know what happens when the Lord is removed from schools.

The Civil War was real. It changed the United States forever. We must never forget that. The statues are of the brave men who fought for the Confederacy. They remind us of a mistake we must never make again, the brave men who stood up for their state, the suffering. They remind us of where we were and how far we’ve come. We need the reminders. We need our history to stay.

RITA MADSON Garfield