Koncerned:  If you look at when the statues were first raised, it is clear that  most of them were concurrent with events such as the founding of the NAACP, the civil rights movement and the enactment of Jim Crow laws.  While southerners can and do argue that they are nothing more than a commemoration of their history, it seems clear that they also contain an element of intimidation and a commemoration of white supremacist oppression of blacks.  Much like the tearing down of statues of Saddam Hussein by Iraqis after Hussein was ousted from power, most southern blacks want the confederate statues removed because they see them as symbols of their oppression, (which is exactly what they are).