I’ve been explaining to a lot of folks that:

1. The Confederate statues being taken down are not monuments to the dead. Their original purpose was as public symbols of white supremacy, meant to intimidate Black Americans following different periods of racial unrest.
2. Same with the Stars and Bars.
3. The history and heritage that these people claim/believe these objects represent is a false, manufactured history.
4. Nothing positive is lost with the removal of these objects. Our schools will continue to teach history, and schools that now teach the Lost Cause will be pressured to teach more accurate versions of history.
5. Racism is not a permanent condition. Racists can shed the scales of racism and become decent human beings.