Statues are being defaced and toppled across the country as the ripple effects from the police killing of George Floyd continue. I’m all for getting rid of racist monuments to the Confederacy and removing the statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Park. But even though it might feel immediately satisfying, let’s not do it as part of protest actions.
Let’s remove these racist monuments and put them in a place designed to preserve the memory of the pain and suffering people have endured at the hands of, well, racist assholes. This cartoon is only half tongue-in-cheek. Rather than erase our racist past, let’s put it in a museum where it can be remembered as a lesson of the blood-soaked roots of the United States—think of it like a Holocaust Museum but for home-grown racism and genocide.
While racist monuments should not exist in places of honor, they should remain in a place of remembrance and education. Never forget.