Germany does NOT have statues celebrating the Nazi Party, the genocide of Jews and other racial, ethnic and cultural groups and promoting the maintenance and revival of racism.  You can acknowledge and study the dark chapters of your history without celebrating them.....there is a very important difference.  I fully understand that the Civil War is part of our history.  I fully understand that slavery is part of our history.  I fully understand that racism is part of our history......and, unfortunately still part of our "present."  Some of the statues in question were erected to celebrate racism and the Jim Crow era and created in the early 20th century; others were erected in opposition to the Civil Rights Movement......in both eras, they were clear manifestations of racism designed to intimidate Black Americans.  Those wish to retain them overwhelmingly support that same racism.  Gary Crum