These statues romanticize the Confederacy

The Lost Cause is a counter-narrative about the Civil War, which gained popularity immediately after the war's end. ^[1] According to this view of the conflict, the South fought to protect states' rights and dispel Northern aggression, not to preserve slavery. ^[1] The Confederacy's soldiers were heroic figures, who sacrificed their lives in service to family and liberty. ^[1] After the war, proponents of this view (like The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans) began constructing memorial statues throughout the South. ^[2] These statues were meant to preserve a false narrative about the South's involvement in this war, ensuring that future generations absolved their loved ones from guilt and continued to affirm a romanticized view of the Confederacy. The individuals who constructed these statues affirmed a false version of history. They aimed for these monuments to cement this fake narrative in the public's consciousness because they depict Confederate soldiers as heroic and glorious. If we are going to promote the real story of the South's involvement in this war, we must remove these symbols that were meant to affirm a lie.

[P1] These statues are a result of the Lost Cause narrative, which is a romanticized account of the Confederacy. [P2] These statues promote the Lost Cause narrative, which is historically false. [P3] In this way, these statues promote a false history. [P4] For this reason, we should remove them.