Is the left walking straight into a trap? I honestly don't think tearing down statues right and left is a good idea...

I finally read the transcripts of Trump press conference. Highlight.

Pretending they're of any historic value is the real recontextualizing history: basically all of these were put up during periods of integration as a way of saying "yeah the feds can makes us TREAT you like people but we want to make absolutely sure you still know we don't consider you people."

would anyone be surprised at this point?

Nor were they prevented from learning to read, getting an education, marrying who they wanted, living together as a family, not getting branded, not getting hung, not getting tortured etc. etc.

That's all true, and for these muh privileges, "the filth" that were there as way for the upper classes of Europe to be rid of them, were just left simply to starve or were pressed into military or merchant marine service to have their lives spent that way because it was cheaper to own, house and feed slaves on plantations than deal with white trash. Or compelled into dangerous mines that slaves were too valuable to use in. They at least had some kind of legal standing that might be enforced, could only be kept as indentured servants with some, at least theoretical modicum of freedom at the end of their contracts. They were kept from literacy via economic rather than institutional means.

Like I said, they were treated marginally better but they were certainly not the people who owned the land and brought the slaves like seems to think.

The one statue that was torn down in North Carolina was a case of fully justified collective action. The city had voted in a democratic way to remove the statue, but the state government had blocked the measure. A clear case of anti-democratic meddling - the question of the decoration of your collective living spaces is something that should belong to the community in question, there is no overriding need for this to be dictated at the state level. Moreover, being only placed in the twenties, the statue had negligible historical value.

...

Peacful protest only gets you so far. its useful in inspiring people and awakening class conciouness i guess, in actually addressing any of the issues the protest is about it gets you jack shit.

Appealing to the conscience of utterly vile rulers like those who lead the US is absolutely not going to achieve anything. they dont care, and the fact a protest is undertaken with license and dosent cause any damage to meaningful private property plays to their favor.

The moment the capitalists and their supporters turns against the people with open violence is the moment to ramp it up a notch.

a shitty statue is nothing, the struggle of the American left, if it wishes to go beyond basic liberal platitudes like unisex bathrooms, is going to be arduous, immoral and long.

To overthrow a state the price of occupation and control must outweigh the benefits. this requires serious damage to morale and private property.

Just my opinion after living through part of the violent struggle in my country against both a hostile state and far-right defenders of said state.

Transferring control from one lot of imbeciles to another is hardly an improvement.

If the only standing between you and being a writer, is a statue of an old dead guy, you should quit.