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It's History

There are 2 sides to this story. As someone who is not directly impacted by day-to-day racism and is not descendant from slaves myself, it is easy to say "get over it". Just like a bully who realizes later his behavior is not right, but still does not encompass fully how he has driven someone (close) to suicide by his constant harrassment.

In reality, on a day to day basis there are many people still struggling with the effects of social inequalities, many of which stem from (former) rascist/class-based government policies. So all in all it's not strange to realize that the "victim-role" is appealing for a lot of people, especially since it's to a large extend true. It's hard to measure your (lack of) success not by the success of others (who might have been more priviliged then you), but by your own effort and where you have come from. Simply not everyone has that ability. I'm not a big fan of "everyone can make it" myself, in reality luck as a lot more to do with it then hard work (I posted about the survivor bias earlier, this also applies to this myth of "self-made millionaires").

There's a nice video which really drives the social inequality point home. Notice the smirk on the face of the most likely "winners", and the dread on the faces of the most likely "losers". Not everyone has the mental strength to overcome this and still give their best.

Now this is not to say I am in favour of tearing down everything that might be remotely tainted. However, I think as society we can do ourselves a favour by realizing a bit better there are a lot of different people, with different backgrounds and different struggles. A bit more understanding to each other rather then judgement would really make the world a better place I think.

Sorry for this rant. :LOL:
 
While I understand what you are saying @Blady and of course it's a fair point, surely by keeping your history alive we can correct any wrong doings and learn from it
But I fully agree on that, yes. It was not meant to defend the tearing down of statues and the like. History is very important, and am a big fan of learning (or at least knowing about) history myself (not just WW2 :)). There are very important lessons to learn there, especially from the mistakes of our forefathers. There are lessons there to learn that make you proud, realize how lucky you are today, to be ashamed about and swear to never repeat again, etc. etc.

While it is easy to pass on lessons learned to the next generation about mathematics, physics, chemistry, etc., it is very hard to pass on the lessons we learn on "social areas" (as any parent who tried in vain to prevent his kids from making the same mistakes knows damn well). History is one way of doing that.
 
I think it is fair to look at who erected the statues and question the purpose for doing so. Some believe that there is a false narrative being pushed. A false narrative that contradicts true history. I grew up in the North but went to university in the South and lived there in various states for as many years as my Northern youth. I can tell you, I learned one perspective as a school boy, but found many in the South that learned another perspective. They can't both by true, and therefore, they cannot both be history. One is history, the other is a story told for various reasons. Too, there are places for history that are more appropriate than other places. Maybe statues to figures that some legitimately view as oppressive should not be placed at the center of town in a place of high honor. And why does the state of California, for example, 5 Confederate symbols, or Washington state 1? Again, why do these exist? Were they erected by those merely wanting to teach kids history?
 
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