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  I am a seventeen-year-old resident of McDonough, who has been greatly disturbed and interested in the recent disagreements regarding the Confederate statue. Despite tensions rising in McDonough, I feel relief at the relocation of the Confederate statue in the center of our city. There is controversy between those who understand the monument to commemorate men who fought to oppress the inherent freedom of others, and those who believe removing the monument will effectively dishonor fallen soldiers and erase an important part of our history. In all this, we must distinguish between remembrance and honor. Remembering those killed in the Civil War is different from honoring the ideals they promoted. We cannot defend Confederate memorials under the pretense of preserving history when the very words graven on our statue reveal its true message, calling for future generations to “keep in our hearts” the “memory of the Cause.” This is a reference to the southern Lost Cause; a term coined to signify the South’s military defeat as well as to lament the end of the Southern way of life which depended on institutionalized slavery. Regardless of whether you believe that the McDonough monument honors Confederate ideals, it is undemocratic to intentionally prevent the people from legally removing a memorial that they deem detrimental to the ideals they wish to uphold as a community. It is unjust to force a people to memorialize ideals that they do not support. As a community, we must learn to remember our shared history without honoring the suppression of human liberty that was “the Cause.” 

  While recent events are disquieting, I am confident that we will see unity grow from the division our community has and continues to face. 

Lydia Cauble,

McDonough