My Opinion On Monuments

After all of the controversy centered around Confederate monuments lately, the state of Alabama passed the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act of 2017 to protect monuments over 40 years old.

I was proud to hear of this because I do not agree with any historical monuments being torn down.

There are Confederate monuments in the state of Alabama (and other states I'm sure) that list the names of those who died during the Civil War. Whether or not the descendants of those whose names are on those monuments agree with the Confederacy, it is still their family members' names listed on them, and I'm sure they would find it very disrespectful to those who died if these monuments were taken down. 

The act was passed to protect all monuments. The Confederacy was never mentioned in the act. The act protects all monuments that are over 40 years old. 

On Al.com I learned that the number 40 was picked to protect all civil rights monuments. 50 years was the first number picked until a Birmingham Senator brought up the fact that 40 years would better cover any civil rights-era monuments because it ran from 1954 to 1968. 

Rep. Butler stressed the importance of protecting civil rights monuments while Sen. Allen made a valid point that I agree with. "How can you tell the complete history of the civil rights movement if you take away the Confederate monuments?" Allen said.

I believe that historical monuments should be left alone if they are old enough to be considered historic. 

There are monuments of all types in this world, and theres no doubt in mind that anyone could be offended by at least one of them (whether they're confederate monuments, or any other kind).

If they've been around for 40 years without people getting so upset over them, why make such a fuss over it now? Leave these historical monuments for those who respect them, and if they're offensive, ignore them. 

Please do not take this post as me being partial to the Confederacy. I just don't like seeing pieces of history being torn down. I would say this about almost any monument. 

I agree with Sen. Allen when he said that the Confederate monuments complete the civil rights story. It was a terrible time, but to me it represents how far we have come as a country. 

This is only my opinion, and many would disagree. Thank you all or your time!