Remember Confederate past, but don't honor it

I empathize with Robert Fisher's concern about the preservation of our history as expressed in his letter published in Fencepost on Sept. 5. It is important to preserve and study history to learn from the past and to better understand who we are and where we're going. Mr. Fisher's comparisons are false equivalencies, however.

Nobody is calling for the destruction of the Washington or Lincoln monuments in our nation's capital or anywhere else. And nobody is calling for the destruction of Jewish holocaust museums. Nor will they be. Those icons are honored and revered because they stand for what America stands for, which is freedom, including freedom from oppression.

Statues of southern Civil War leaders honor men who were fighting against that. Yes, Washington and Jefferson owned slaves, just like Robert E. Lee and other leaders of the Confederate States of America. The distinction is that, while Washington and Jefferson worked to build our nation, the CSA sought to destroy it and preserve the horrors of slavery.

Because of that, statues honoring Confederate leaders, just like the flags of the confederacy, are an affront to us all, most especially to people of African descent.

The argument about Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and others being part of our history does not justify the erection or preservation of monuments to them. Hitler was a part of our history. We fought a war against him, just as we fought a war against the CSA. I'm unaware of any public statues honoring der führer, either here or in Germany.

That we should remember these people and their deeds in a proper historical context is certain. That we should honor them is questionable at best.

Bob Dohn

Schaumburg