[quote=George Santayana][i]“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”[/i][/quote]
Just because it is an unpleasant part of history does not mean it should neglected in memory or honored, no less the fact that it might well be "more recent" than the past it is attributed to does not mean it should be discredited. If we were to act by those standards, many other monuments and sites we consider historical now would be equally "meaningless". You do not erect a statue to educate as you would a formal class, which is amusing enough because the education system in the United States from childhood format up to college education is laughable, but because it is a symbol of that history.

Should we destroy the Balto statue because the dog in question wasn't actually [i]the[/i] hero of Nome? Should the Lenin statue of Seattle be toppled because the man and his ideology has killed millions of people and are a reminder of that? Most any excuse can be invented if one tries hard enough; some have better logic and rationale than others. The Confederate monuments' destruction or removal? Not so much. People would be better off [i]going about with their lives as they have been for many, many years until now.[/i]

One can cry "Racism!" until they are blue in the face, but the Civil War had less to do with race or slavery and significantly more with political differences, the economy and American expansion, states rights and federal rights, and ultimately the perceived fear following the election of a President.