@NYgentleman Dickhead... that was legal there at the time and precisely the point legal is not always right. Legal can be very evil in the wrong hands

hi justmerae
Secession, was not legal which was what the civil war was fought over.
Best wishes
:)

I’ve come very late to this debate and it seems that you’ve all reached an impasse. However, I would still like to throw in my tuppence worth.

Literaturegirl and justmerae seem to be missing two rather vital elements to the question of “why remove Confederate symbols from public places?” These two elements are time and persistence.

If we were to borrow HG Wells’ time machine and go back to the Rome of 2,000 years ago and travel along the Via dei Fori Imperiali, we would see a huge statue of Julius Caesar. To the eyes of Roman slaves and the conquered people of the Roman Empire, that statue would no doubt cause some discomfort, if not outright fear. Go to that same spot today (the statue is still there) and time has removed that discomfort and fear because the context of the statue has changed. What we now see is a remnant of a lost civilization. What’s been lost with that civilization is the narrative that the statue represents.

But time alone is not what makes that statue acceptable today. If the Roman Empire had persisted throughout these 2,000 years and there was still slavery and conquest, that statue would still have the same effect on those who are being subjugated by that empire.

Slavery may have gone from America but, it took a civil war to get rid of it. And the Confederate states were the ones who fought to keep it. Furthermore, black people in America still suffer from institutionalised racism and bigotry. In other words, the narrative of those Confederate symbols still persists. If that were not the case, why do white supremacists still use the Confederate flag?

hi Volfield
You commentary is that the violence was on both sides and so both sides responsible equally. That is sort of what Trump said although he seems to think there were many sides - whatever that means? Your commentary appears to support Trump and therefore I asked if I could take you as saying Trumps comments were fair.
The point I am trying to make is the violence was one sided in the main and it is the President's duty to protect constitutional right to protest peacefully.
Best wishes
:)

@sogdianrock How did you reach that conclusion when I made no references to Trump is beyond me.

The law should be enforced fairly and equally, regardless of political spectrum. Is that so hard to understand?

hi Volfield
haha this is the rule. I am asking the question! You respond. My question was about what Trump said. Therefore your specific reference was unnecessary for me to assume you were responding to my question. If you wish to muse write your own story.
Best wishes
:)

@Booyeah Mainstream media did not show that part, it's the white men fault!

@sogdianrock Yes I saw then assault peaceful protesters hundreds of times in the last 7 months. To include throwing IEDs into crowds. Where've you been?

I'm glad antifa got run over, I really am.

@sogdianrock I happen to be an enemy of the liberal state ☺

hi Cierzo
You inferred that by saying to forge history is violence. That is a sophisticated way of looking at history. You will understand then how important it is to select the history that the liberal state puts on pedestals. These statues should have been removed post civil war - that was a mistake paid for by generations of hate.
Best wishes
:)

@sogdianrock 'Select the history' sounds like telling the population what they have to believe and what not. I prefer authoritarism without the disguise of liberal democracy

hi squidgy ·
I was a student of John Maclean and James Comnnoly.

John Maclean (14 August 1879 – 30 November 1923) was a Scottish schoolteacher and revolutionary socialist of the Red Clydeside era.

He was notable for his outspoken opposition to the First World War, which caused his arrest under the Defence of the Realm Act and loss of his teaching post, after which he became a full-time Marxist lecturer and organiser. In April 1918 he was arrested for sedition, and his 75-minute speech from the dock became a celebrated text for Scottish left-wingers. He was sentenced to five years’ penal servitude, but was released after the November armistice.

Maclean believed that Scottish workers were especially fitted to lead the revolution, and talked of "Celtic communism", inspired by clan spirit. But his launch of a Scottish Workers Republican Party and a Scottish Communist Party were largely unsuccessful. Although he had been appointed Bolshevik representative in Scotland, he was not in harmony with the Communist Party of Great Britain, even though it had absorbed the British Socialist Party, to which he had belonged. In captivity, Maclean had been on hunger strike, and prolonged force-feeding had permanently affected his health. He collapsed during a speech and died of pneumonia, aged forty-four.

James Connolly (Irish: Séamas Ó Conghaile;[1] 5 June 1868 – 12 May 1916) was a Scottish-born Irish republican and socialist leader, aligned to syndicalism and De Leonism.

He was born in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, to Irish-born parents. He left school for working life at the age of 11, but became one of the leading Marxist theorists of his day. He also took a role in Scottish and American politics. He was executed by a British firing squad because of his leadership role in the Easter Rising of 1916.

I do not suffer from Hibernophobia.
Best wishes
:)

@sogdianrock I did not think you did ☺

hi squidgy
I am proud you find me so.
Best wishes
:)

hi Goralski
a citizen exercising their right to protest was killed and many injured by a car driven at speed into a crowd. Is that really a joke to you?
Best wishes
:)

@sogdianrock that's what ya get blocking traffic