Public memory, propaganda, and ethics

My colleague is trying to get his students thinking about ethics by putting forward an issue of public morals and conscience. I agree with him that this monument to the Confederate Soldiers of Denton, Texas, should be removed. I was a bit more over the top in what I thought should be done to the monument. He proposes moving to a museum. I propose breaking up the statue and scattering its pieces on top of John Bunyan Denton’s grave–which is nearby on the Courthouse grounds. (J. B. Denton gives his name to our hometown; he was a minister and an Indian fighter.)

The confederate soldier monument on the Denton courthouse square should be removed and placed in a museum. Now, that may prove to be a political impossibility or perhaps a practical impossibility (i.e., it may crumble into pieces with an attempted move). If that is the case, then a compensatory monument should be erected on the north side of the square. It should celebrate the progress of civil rights and racial justice in this country, even though that is a halting and incomplete journey.