Sadly, we can’t forget Confederacy’s impact

The argument that we need Confederate statues to remember America’s history is out of touch with the history of people of color in our country.

When an unarmed person of color gets shot in the streets by the police or others without much hope for viable opportunities in our system of justice, we will remember.

When we look at our prisons and see a disproportion of prisoners being of a certain race, we will remember.

When we venture outside and see gentrification and economic disparity, we will remember.

When the Supreme Court of the United States holds that attributes of blackness can be seen as unprofessional and can be reprimanded, we will remember.

When we look at company hires and the makeup of boards being disproportionally of a certain race, we will remember.

When we read history books and notice the absence of the history of a certain race, or that race being depicted subserviently, we will remember.

We don’t need to look at statues of Confederate soldiers to remember the sins of this country and its past. There are plenty of reminders that that we still have a long way to go to secure equity and equality.

This story was originally published September 28, 2017 at 6:55 PM with the headline "Sadly, we can’t forget Confederacy’s impact."