There is no doubt that many black Americans view statues glorifying the confederacy as symbols of white supremacist oppression of blacks.  There is also no doubt that most of those who put those statues up saw them as exactly the same thing.  Those of you who feel Confederate symbols should be preserved for their historical value should ask yourselves if the Iraqis who tore down statues of Saddam Hussein should have instead preserved that symbol of their oppression, or if residents of the Balkans who have torn down statues of Stalin and Lennon should have preserved those daily reminders of Soviet occupation and oppression.  If Nazis decided to put up a statue of Hitler in Auschwitz, should any sane person decry as misguided iconoclasts those who want to tear it down?