"I think the point that you're missing, Richard, is that a number of us think that based on their original intent and placement (i.e., assertions of white supremacy before public institutions like courthouses), these statues constitute hate speech." - MMackinnon

Oh my. That's quite an indictment. Let's deal with it one step at a time.

You and I might think we know why, a hundred years ago, people erected a monument. And probably neither of us will be correct in every case. Civic decisions, like erecting a statue to honour someone, are made out of an amalgam of deeply personal feelings. So who are we, in the distant future, to judge what those feelings were?

As for your belief that a statue (to whomever) constitutes hate speech, you get no sympathy from me. That notion is wrong on multiple levels. There isn't enough room here to speak to them all.