I don’t hear anything about the Union Army now, it is all about the evil Confederacy. If they wipe out all traces of the Confederacy, the Union Army will become invisible. Not sure that will be different, not a lot said about them for a long time.
What we hear is that all whites are racist, all whites had slaves, all about the Confederacy. I did my family genealogy, my dad’s family was in Ohio and many fought for the Union, none fought for the Confederacy. One was an officer that even got a little fame before he died at Shiloh. None owned slaves.
If we don’t defend the history of the South in the Civil War we will lose the history of the North. It will be as if the Civil War never happened.
Those that don’t agree with the statues should use them as a teachable moment. I did that with my daughters, if I didn’t agree with a monument, or statue, book, things being taught in school,what have you I told them what the claim was and then discussed my feelings about it. Wiping it all away is not the answer.
My mother had family in the Trail of Tears, when I grew up the feelings toward Native Americans were not always the best. When I encountered something that did not please me or I did not agree with I did my best to educate people about the other side of issue. Wiping it all away would have simply left people ignorant of both sides.
This is a point that I have been searching for the right words to articulate, and what you have said seems to be a pretty good stab at it.
The greatness of accomplishment of one side is highly dependent upon vanquishing a worthy foe on the other. If the foe is diminished, the Valor of the Victor is lessened.