Our heritage, good-bad-right-wrong... It is still our heritage. Those soldiers fought for what they believed in. I had kin that died in the Civil War. To disgrace their names is a disgrace to me. Where do people get the idea to tear down George Washington, Abe Lincoln? Christopher Columbus? Reely??

@Grecio No not George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. Christopher Columbus, for sure. Confederate politicians and soldiers, definitely. That heritage, of slavery and treason, is a pretty crappy 'heritage,' and is best ridiculed or, better yet, forgotten. (Or is it vice versa?)

@Storm1752 Who decides what was good in our history and what was bad? Do we have to erase everything that more than 2 years old? There have been slaves for millennia in most countries in the world. While the holocaust was one of the worst deeds in the history of the world (understatement) the worst happening was the killing of over 400,000 indigenous natives living in North and South America. These people were all but wiped out by the English, Spanish, and French.
I think the desire to tear down statues is mostly a symptom of people being tired of police brutality, unequal distribution of wealth, and the realization that young people will have to work for a living.

@Grecio They shouldn't have to work for a living, right? Protesting all day every day is a much better use of their time, I'm sure you agree. And yours was a perfectly serious comment, one I'm responding to with the utmost amount of respect.

@Storm1752 Many protesters and rioters are young white citizens. Protesting police racism and brutality might be in order. However, Rioting, burning, and killing should never be allowed, of course.
I think many young people have realized that they will have to work and earn a living, and they are having trouble facing it. Add the Covid-19 to the mix of discomfort and we have a powder keg.
Recently, I attended what was supposed to be a BLM protest and the tearing down of a statue in my state. I got there early. Soon, 25 civilians showed-up toting guns. The protesters never appeared that day. I wonder what would have happened if some protesters showed-up and even a few had guns. That could have been a bad scene for our community, state, and nation.
Contributing to this mess is social media and the news. Of course, social media improves the nation's and the world's communication. However, we are communicating with hate as well as love.

@Storm1752 With all due respect, the confederates were fighting for much more than slavery. Slavery is supported by the Bible. Most southerners were Christians (as is still the case).
It amazes me that millions of black people are very strong Christians despite the Bible being pro-slavery. Jesus is supposed to have said, "do not beat your slaves until you break their teeth."
Modern Christians don't go by that now, they will claim that Jesus lived in a different time, or that the scripture is anecdotal. Most bad parts of the Bible are claimed by modern Christians to be anecdotal.

@Grecio I just think slavery was and is wrong; if you don't think so, fine. The Civil War WAS about slavery. Of course there were ancillary issues, but they could have and probably would have been settled peacefully. The "heritage" of slavery is a disgrace, in my opinion. The fact many men died to uphold it means nothing to me. They died for an unjust cause. This is my opinion. Now please take it as such. Read the 'Cornerstone Speech' by Confederate Vice President Stephens delivered in 1861 in Savannah, Georgia if you don't believe slavery was based on the mistaken notion blacks are subhuman, inferior, and therefore are deserving of subjugation. ARE they inferior? Even if you think so (do you?) they are STILL human being and not cattle.
Anyway, lots of Germans died believing in and fighting for the Nazi cause...it's weird you brought that up, since it hardly bolsters your point. I'm sure you don't believe they died heroic deaths in defense of a noble cause!
I can't believe I'm feeling forced to state such obvious truths, to someone who should know better.

@Storm1752 We can't expect that people who lived 150 years ago would have the same outlook and historical background that we have now.

@Grecio We don't live 150 years ago.

US troops are not from Iraq.

That is not anywhere near the violence we are seeing.

@Grecio We weren’t united - then divided, yet ~

@Varn point taken

And now they want to take down Mt. Rushmore too.

@hankster They should turn it into Geronimo and Chief Joseph..."I will fight no more forever"
Sitting Bull, Osceola, or Ouray.

@hankster Yeah... Whos country was it before Columbus "discovered" it?

@hankster If the Native Americans would have told the "discoverers" to go back where they came from, like so many folks now are telling others, It would be a whole different world today. Maybe they should do away with Thanksgiving too.

@hankster Yeah, we had better not go there. I am making burritos for supper.

@gemini1947 [crazyhorsememorial.org]

@gemini1947 Yea, look what happened to the American Indian, Boy, did they have a terrible immigration policy.

@gemini1947 I think the invention of guns and gunpowder had an influence. A lot of things determine our history. Things like accidents, dictators, history, science, and evolution. We think we can control all of that, but we can't. Science and religion cannot protect us from being a planet flying into oblivion with bacteria and viruses living on it. If we don't destroy ourselves, nature will. Perhaps that is the course of our universe. Our planet is not special, it is just like most other planets. We think we are special because there is life on our planet. But is life so special? Stephen Hawkins said people are basically "pond scum". He might be right.

@hankster Mt. Rushmore is our heritage. Whether the people were good or bad, is not the point. The fact is, that is what happened and that is our history. The USA is no not Iraq.

@hankster You make a good point. I don't know the answer. Do we preserve what actually happened, or do we preserve what we we wished would have happened? I dunno.

@hankster Why is a disgrace, just asking?

@hankster I am sorry, but I have no idea what you mean.

@hankster Well said. I think the answer is some kind of philosophical question, like which came first "the chicken or the egg"? I really don't know.

@hankster Why doesn't the president, and each governor appoint a task force to explore and make recommendations? Why has this never happened, as far as I know?