Lester spence was asked about the best approach. Heres what he had to say. The approach the city has taken before was actually have monuments toto the put them in context. They were just put up. Before the statue was taken down there was a plaque next to it basically saying that it was that the statue was erected as part of a lost cause project voted to the confederacy and White Supremacy. That was ok. Gone, i thinkare what i would like to see is the base maintained. For the statues themselves are removed but the bases stay there in order to reflect on the one hand the fact that there was a political project dedicated to White Supremacy that had a long history that is deeply tied with the creation of the nation. And then that there was another political project created in order to remove them. I think thats actually the best that was the best approach in this circumstance. Other potential approaches. Maybe leaving taking pieces of the statues. Butbe maintaining them erecting another statue. There are a number of choices people have in front of them and the blessing is this generates the opportunity to create more discussion about what we should be doing. Host that was Johns HopkinsUniversity Political science joiningr Lester Spence us on the program. The on the program was university of alabama law professor who discussed why removing these monuments is not so clearcut. Think the monuments are largely relics of the battle days. I think its important to leave them up so that we understand and remember that there were once people who were in charge in places like charlottesville and townsnd throughout the south and some in the north who wanted to celebrate the confederacy and the war fought to maintain slavery. Sort of balance things a little bit differently and i think its important to preserve those monuments on the landscape so that people remember that there was once a celebration of the confederacy and the war fought to maintain slavery. At the conversations we are having now about what the civil war was about. Why people were celebrating and putting these monuments up. That is a great conversation. I think its a great opportunity for learning, for national discussion. I think that conversation largely goes away once we take the monuments down. What do you think should be done about these Confederate Monuments . Roslyn in wilmington, delaware. I taught u. S. History and i am basically in the Peace Movement especially since i read about the civil war. Against robert slavery and inst dont believe he owned any slaves. Or if he did he got rid of them. And the other issue in the civil war was state rights. Can california have certain laws on pollution arcana federal Government Force them to do away with those laws on pollution . There were issues of tariffs, trade, states rights. It wasnt just slavery. So check your history books. Get on the computer. Host lets go to history. Com with the headline how the u. S. Got so many Confederate Monuments. This is what it says on this website. Most of these monuments did not go up immediately after the wars and in 1865. During that time commemorative markers of the civil war ended to be memorials that more and soldiers who had died. The vast majority of them were built between the 1890s and 1950s which matches up exactly with the area of jim crow segregation. The biggest spike was between 1900 and 1920s. In contrast to the earlier memorials that more and dead soldiers these tend to glorify the leaders of the confederacy. Thomas Stonewall Jackson. Thats why they put them in front of state buildings. Monuments stood for included a glorification of the cause of the civil war. White women were instrumental in raising funds to build these monuments. United daughters of the confederacy was probably the most important and influential group. The group was responsible for creating was basically the Mount Rushmore of the confederacy. A gigantic stone carving of davis, lee and jackson in Stone Mountain, georgia. 1960scompleted in the for 2 million. Albert and connecticut. What do you think . Caller i think it is an affront to societys norms. You can compare this to say they want to glorify was elected in the third reich in germany. Man ofafricanamerican 89 years old. I dont think these guys should be exhibited at all. It goes back to a time when we were and enslaved people. Say down with the statues. Host kevin in utah. Tell us what you think. I think these statues are basically to remind flecked people of their place. That that was the reason they are elected and i think they should come down. About t do you think we lost kevin. Jack is in providence, rhode island. Caller good morning. Some of them should come down. Theues that maybe some of southerners that were involved with the kkk. Others should stay like robert e. Lee. Was against slavery. Thats true. He was considered probably one of the best battlefield strategists in the history of all warfare. He was offered the command of the entire union army by president lincoln. The whole thing. He turned it down because he wanted to invade virginia. One of the key points. They should take the statue or picture of robert byrd down. Im going to shock everybody. John f. Kennedy if you go on the internet, he praised adolf hitler. Around the 1930s or 1940s. When he was a young man. Calling him basically a legend. You can go on the internet for that. And furthermore john f. Kennedy was friends with one of our a brilliant german rocket science. He was in the ss. He was friends with him because he had such brainpower and mathematics developed rocket programs. He was friends with a member of the ss so lets take down his photograph. Rights ahard black member of the senate of virginia, and also a member of the virginia war memorial commission. He writes understanding the purpose of confederate memorial. Localities erected monuments to those who fought in the war between the states several decades after the war while millions of those veterans were still living. The confederate Soldier Monument at the old courthouse in leesburg was erected in 1908. Most confederate veterans would have been in their 60s and many had befriended old adversaries. When the court has statue was himted it was to care for who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan. Quiet reflective image of the men who fought that war. It was not a political statement anymore than the vietnam war memorial is a political statement about that war. Assemblynia general wisely enacted virginia code section 15. 2181 two to protect War Memorials from destruction for political reasons. It provides access the civil war are erected it shall be unlawful to interfere. This is in the state of virginia. On the hundred six anniversary of the birth of Jefferson Davis the monument was unveiled before a large crowd of northerners and southerners on june 4, 1914. Woodrow wilson addressed a large crowd of union and confederate veterans placed wreaths on the graves of their former foes symbolizing reconciliation between north and south. Those who paid the price in blood formed bonds brotherhood for the benefit of america. A disservice when we reduce those magnanimous acts of love and mercy. I have no doubt that statue removal would invite removal of confederate headstones from confederate gravesites. We should have the wisdom to respect her history and draw lessons from it. I oppose weakening the virginia statute protecting War Memorials. In syracuse, new york. What do you think . Caller i think they should not even take the statues down for one thing. I do understand why you people are crying and sticking up for one side. Host jewel in north hollywood, california. Caller i think they should take the statues down. At 1. I didnt think they should. After giving it some serious thought i believe they should take the statues down because history that is behind us and we need to leave it behind us and Everybody Needs to get on board with trying to andg the country together the people need to Start Talking so that we can get some understanding about each other especially blacks and whites. Other cultures are coming into this country to live among us. What is happening is theres a lot of confusion about whats going on. Black people are at the we are at the center of all of it. There has been racism. There has been jim crow. There has been so much going on for years prior to others coming into this country. Its a country of immigration but for a long time it has been a country of blackandwhite and mexicans and maybe a few asians. Now that there is an influx of different people coming here we need to have an understanding thinks theirbody race is important. Everyone needs to realize that we are all important. We are all americans. We are not a divided country. The racists did to either get a grip or fine Something Else to impeder than try to their ignorance upon other people. Host ok. You said you changed your mind. Read first thought they should stay up. Why . I talked to other people and they gave some good points. It is part of history. I think they should probably some people have suggested that they get moved someplace like a museum or Something Like that. I think Something Like that is a good thing for them. Think they should destroy them. They probably are worth a lot of money. Keptshould probably be where people can get a clear understanding of the history because that type of place they will lay out what its really about and give people the history that is meant for it. Right now it is like an eyesore for black people. It is something that you dont want to see that. You dont want to keep being reminded. People say we need to forget. We are not going to forget. We will put it aside. But its not forgotten. Host i have to leave it there so i can get in some other voices. Terry in tennessee. The way i see it is theyall of the statues should take Martin Luther king statue down, too. Thats what they should do. Thats the way i see. Host how do you view Martin Luther king . Caller theres nothing wrong with him. Fired upe going to be about everyone they should take all statues down. Host do you equate the Civil Rights Movement with jim crow laws . Caller nothing wrong with that. They should take his down to be fair about it. They should take his down, too. Host ok. Robert. Henderson, kentucky. Caller good one. Automatically my last name is lee and im the descendents of slaves here in henderson. Taking down statues are taking down flags is symbolic. Regulatet legislate, nor dictate a persons heart. When people were killed in charleston in the historic black she tooki haley down the flag. That was all good. There were still 400 7,000 raised for him on the internet, for his defense. Police took him to have a burger afterwards. Black life is still devalued in america. 3 5 of a human being. Taking down statues is symbolic. Real change comes from within and that cannot be legislated, dictated nor regulated. For the person that studies and really gets down to the country issues its about whats in the heart and that cannot be regulated. That change has to come from within and a person has to truly have a relationship with god in order for that to happen. Host ok. Robert in henderson, kentucky. Usa today confederate statues falling across the United States. Divided cities struggle with the fate of these monuments which some view as historical markers while others see as symbols of the hate. Look at the citys debating this. Durham, gainesville. St. Petersburg, san diego, los angeles, baltimore, brooklyn, madison, daytona. Each we will be talking to reporters throughout the three hours while we also get your viewpoint on what should happen with these monuments. Robert in fort smith, arkansas. Go ahead. Caller hello. I was wondering. On the census. 62 to something that people want to leave the statues up. Im beginning to wonder if they are after White Supremacists or if they are after white people. Host who is they . I noticed this guy on television. Start a raceing to and theyre pushing it too far. You mentioned polls. Heres the Washington Post with the Economist Survey that was done august 13 through the 15th. After you see statues of confederate war heroes more as a symbol of southern pride or racism . Southern pride. 26 said symbol of racism. In oak hill, west virginia. Caller good morning to thank you for taking my call. This is not related to the statues. However we celebrate memorial day every year. I think it mistaken was the daughters of the confederacy who started a memorial day for the southern dead. Cant remember the year that congress then changed it to memorial day that we then honor the northern and all the dead in all the wars. Starting of our memorial day. Toch is related i believe the monument issue. We forget this. I dont know how many people know this. Host what do you think about these monuments . Should they remain . Should they come down . Should they be put in a museum . Given Historical Context . Caller i believe that they should stay up because they said somewhere something that they somewhere i cant remember which state in the south toward down veteran. A veteran is a veteran. No matter which war they served in. Host what about the Historical Context to win most of these monuments or erected. Around the time of jim crow laws. What was happening at the time that segregation was being put into law. And at the same time a movement in front of symbols State Capitol buildings in Public Squares. What about that context . Caller perhaps they could be moved to someplace else where andle could still see them not really be in the glaring eyes in front of a courthouse or a school what have you. But i am mixed on this really. Host im leaving it there so we can hear from one reporter who is covering this debate in richmond, virginia. Us via skype this morning from that area. Virginia statehouse reporter. Through what very monumenthave avenue. Its a big tourist attraction in your area. And what is the debate right now . Thank you so much for having me this morning i really think its important to start icing that this conversation that richmond is having is not a new one. Virginia does a wonderful job of preserving its history, respecting its history and one oldlook at archives and newspaper articles and see that people in richmond just as soon as the lead monument was erected in 1890, John Mitchell jr. Who was the editor of the Richmond Planet editorialized that people were going to be debating about the legacy of treason and blood. Have always been met with resistance and debate and controversy. Were just having a contemporary sort of iteration here in richmond. There are folks who have said and the violence that he inflicted on worshipers in South Carolina was a jumpoff point for our conversation in richmond now. Accuracyhere is some to that. After that happened it was a big issue during our mayoral race. Our mayor now is one who consistently advocated for balance and context. Throughout statues richmond. He made good on that Campaign Rhetoric when he appointed a 10 Member Commission to look at how to best add context to the statues along monument avenue. The commission has met a handful of times since his announcement in june. And they are tasked with gauging Community Sentiment and figuring out the best way to move forward. Since the announcement of that commission every mayor has changed his position and more forcefully called for the removal of the monuments along and there is at least one member of our city council who plan to submit a resolution and ask the state for permission. To move statues. That would sort of help the richmond local authorities moved around that tricky state law that says that people cannot disturb monuments once they have been put in place. Host described monument avenue for the folks who have not seen it. Guest its a long thoroughfare. In a Historic District of richmond. There are homes all along it. Tree lines. Very scenic. Very beautiful. There are businesses connected throughout the thoroughfare. There are five confederate figures sitting along the avenue and Arthur Arthur ashe. R people have said that monument is ae in and of itself confederate shrine of sorts. And that he kind of ruins that. Host what has it been like in richmond . Guest very tense. Since that commission that we mentioned before has been , there hasmeeting been one very well attended Public Meeting about two weeks ago. 500 people were there. We saw about 40 speakers. Half of the speakers were in favor of the mayors call for adding context. We heard lots of suggestions of billboards alongside the monuments. Half of the other speakers at that meeting were still having a conversation about whether or not they should be talks touched at all. Its all very tense. There are high emotions anytime that anyone talk about it. It is such a closely held issue in virginia. The citys largest blackowned media outlet had an theorial writing we ask commission and our readers what context can possibly change of the statues meaning and message from what was meant when they were directed following a bloody civil war meant to keep black people in bondage and what could possibly change their present context . I understand theres another Public Meeting coming up. What do you think will happen then . September 13 . Transpireduch has between this last meeting and september 13. I have spoken to one member of who said they have asked for a clue and down period. C