In an essay for Time, James C. Cobb, emeritus professor of history in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, considered the debate about removing memorials to Confederate soldiers and leaders.
While acknowledging the problematic history to these monuments, many of which were built decades after the Civil War as a rally to uphold racial segregation, Cobb argued that these symbols are important reminders of a past that still has repercussions today.
He wrote, “At a time when the nation needs urgently to acknowledge the enduring consequences of its racially unjust past, we seem increasingly intent on sweeping aside many of the most vivid reminders of why there is still so much to overcome.”
