I wanted to make a note of how tone-deaf it is for the left to call for the removal of Confederate monuments. They should come down, yes, but the reasons hinge on a nuanced understanding of both history and ingrained racism. The calls against such removal do not require nuance, fit perfectly into conservative talking points, and can be seen as a vindication of their suspicions: the Left is acting like violent totalitarians and destroying history. The Confederate monument debate also feeds into racial insecurities of white people, who already tend to feel threatened by the shifting demographics in the US. Playing into such tensions makes even liberal-minded people solidly conservative in their reactions. Of course, this goes to show just how much race really drives much of politics, and thus how important it is not to place racist secessionists on pedestals, but meanwhile the left will lose the electoral battle.