Almost all these statues were erected long after the Civil War. There were spikes in construction every time white racists felt that their order was under threat or wanted to reestablish their white supremacist order. So you see clear trends during Reconstruction, the establishment of Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights movement to overthrow Jim Crow. These were just straight-up attempts to intimidate black folks, and should be treated the same way we treat swastikas painted on synagogues.
Almost all these statues were erected long after the Civil War. There were spikes in construction every time white racists felt that their order was under threat or wanted to reestablish their white supremacist order. So you see clear trends during Reconstruction, the establishment of Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights movement to overthrow Jim Crow. These were just straight-up attempts to intimidate black folks, and should be treated the same way we treat swastikas painted on synagogues.