The statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville should not be pulled down. Or rather, I should prefer that it not be pulled down. There’s a difference.
To eradicate every symbol of every political or cultural wrong in this or any other country would accomplish nothing. The urge to destroy symbols as a means of righting wrongs is widespread and understandable. Pulling down statues of Lenin and Stalin was satisfying, not just for Russians and their fellow sufferers under communism but for admirers of justice worldwide.
But what did it accomplish? Now we have Putin, who struts bare-chested but (so far as I am aware) has not had his statue erected in every village square. Mao’s statue still presides over Tienanmen Square, and we have had diplomatic relations with Beijing since Nixon, which were established before Mao’s successor rejected almost everything he stood for. (Which seems not to have placed his statues at risk.)
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