Statues
 

This was clear even to Robert E. Lee, who opposed such monuments. “I think it wiser,” he wrote in 1869, declining an invitation to help decide where to erect memorials at Gettysburg, “not to keep open the sores of war but to follow the examples of those nations who endeavored to obliterate the marks of civil strife, to commit to oblivion the feelings engendered.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...c=nl_headlines

I have no doubt that there are whack jobs out there that could justify tearing down statues of the founding fathers of the Villages. Let’s start their justification list. They were white males, they were successful businessmen who made lots of money (capitalists), they supported the Republican Party, the community they created has way too many conservatives and not enough diversity, etc....

Only one in four southerners owned slaves. The others resented slave owners getting rich off slave labor. Slavery ended one hundred and fifty five years ago. Nobody has been a slave or slave owner for generations. It is used as an excuse for hate and poor behavior. I read slavery was practiced among African tribes. One tribe would take members of other tribes as slaves and even capture them for the slave market. It made me wonder how slavery got started in America. Correct me if what I read is not true. If it is true, who is going to pay whom reparations?6

Yes, I think you should go out and guard them day and night.

It's all good. The sculptor fixed that by making him bronze.

This is mob behavior including the vandalism.

Maybe because he was Italian.

So when they (the morons) topple, deface, paint, etc a statue what have they accomplished that will make what they are seeking (whatever that may be) any better.

Instead of following the laws/rules to get something done the "morons" have decided to burn, pillage, plunder and topple/remove statues on their own.

They are demonstrating they are above or beyond the law and the media and local officials validate their actions by doing nothing about it.

The fault is those in authority and the media.

YOU SAID A mouthFULL!!

Satire
 

Dean, nice satire... nope guards not needed.

Columbus or any other should be judged according to the times he lived in.

Don’t you think it’s time to get over the civil war anyway.

That's a Florida Cracker, which were Colonial era British and American pioneer settlers who who helped settle Florida. Basically a cowboy or rancher.

Something to ponder.
 

You are right, bigotry isn't only in the South. Furthermore, it isn't one sided. You are not born with hate, it has to be taught. First at home, then in some houses of worship and on the playgrounds at school. From the parents to the children to their peers. It spreads like a virus, and like a virus it doesn't reason it just destroys.
Bigotry comes in many forms, racial, cultural, religious, regional, and any thing you can imagine. Remember the old song by Randy Newman, "Short people" that showed the stupidity of bigotry? The peaceful protest brings light to a subject that needs to be addressed. Riots, lawlessness, vandalism only adds to the perceived and flawed evidence that supposedly justify bigotry.
Peacefully and lawfully working together and acknowledging advancements and improvement is essential. Once a people were enslaved but they are enslaved no more. Once there was segregation, but segregation is gone. Once a people had no hope of a better life, now many of the people of all historical backgrounds live the American dream, able to attain any station in life up to and including the Presidency. No matter how hard, it is possible if you stop instilling hate and providing excuses for failure.
To me and many others, " Liberty and Justice For All" isn't just a catchy phrase, it is a Commandment!

If you re-write or erase history, you are doomed to repeat it.