> Respectfully, without a place to read about the intimidation tactic of statues, I'm not sure that I put much weight in it. Five seconds of googling yielded s

> Respectfully, without a place to read about the intimidation tactic of statues, I'm not sure that I put much weight in it. Five seconds of googling yielded several results from when this was last discussed in a major way, in 2017: NPR piece includes a chart of dates for confederacy iconography: https://www.npr.org/2017/08/20/544266880/confederate-statues-were-built-to-further-a-white-supremacist-future https://www.npr.org/2017/08/20/544266880/confederate-statues... HuffPo piece says it was never about "history and culture": https://www.huffpost.com/entry/confederate-monuments-history-trump-baltimore_b_5995a3a6e4b0d0d2cc84c952 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/confederate-monuments-history... Vox talks a bit about the process: "But the story of the monuments is even stranger than many people realize. Few if any of the monuments went through any of the approval procedures that we now commonly apply to public art. Typically, groups like the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), which claimed to represent local community sentiment (whether they did or did not), funded, erected, and dedicated the monuments. As a consequence, contemporaries, especially African Americans, who objected to the erection of monuments had no realistic opportunity to voice their opposition." See: https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/8/18/16165160/confederate-monuments-history-charlottesville-white-supremacy https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/8/18/16165160/confeder... And then some newer pieces: https://www.history.com/news/how-the-u-s-got-so-many-confederate-monuments https://www.history.com/news/how-the-u-s-got-so-many-confede... https://www.wral.com/confederate-monuments-were-meant-to-intimidate-blacks-historians-say/19158196/ https://www.wral.com/confederate-monuments-were-meant-to-int...