NO: The Confederate monument should not be removed

I decided to submit this guest opinion to The Paper because I love Burke County, our community, and detest the evil of division, because of the saving grace of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

In Luke 11:17, our Lord tells us that “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.”

I believe that there is a better way than destruction of a memorial.

I respect the emotions and opinions of others, but I simply wanted to express mine, regarding an option I had not heard voiced previously.

I do not intend to focus in detail on the arguments for or against removal of the memorial; however, I am voicing support for it remaining in place as is. 

It is a solemn reminder of lives lost in the Civil War from Burke County, just like grave markers in a cemetery, as one article said, “a tribute to those who fought and died.”

It is not at all a tribute to the Confederacy.

Pursuing this point now, in my opinion, that is how many in this community view this memorial. I don’t know of anyone that I have met here that views this statue as honoring the Confederacy or the institution of racism, or more specifically, viewing African Americans or other minorities as genetically inferior to Caucasians, which is the sole, core tenet of racism. 

Again, this is a memorial of lives lost, fathers or grandfathers, during a tragic period in American history. This memorial is an important reminder of how the evils of mankind can and will unfold, unless godly men and women speak up courageously. 

As a country, we have learned from the blight of slavery and are moving toward the goal of a “more perfect union,” as eloquently stated in the preamble of our Constitution. 

It is not a time to remove a manifest element of history. If history is forgotten or set aside, we know that mankind will be doomed to repeat it.

As I mentioned in my talk, the Grand Coliseum in Rome is a reminder of the extraordinary suffering and excruciating deaths of Christians in antiquity, and even Auschwitz, of the Holocaust, the attempted extermination of all Jews, over six million dying. Neither should be removed or destroyed; in fact, both structures have been carefully preserved for remembrance.

What about this pattern of destruction? 

Generally, it is an exercise in futility. A statute is in ruin, but now what? 

Instead, I believe in developing something useful for educating our children and worthy of attention, like a “Memorial to the Evils of Slavery,” as I proposed during the public comments portion of a recent meeting of the Burke County Board of Commissioners. 

But still, there are those who will find fault; in fact, no one has contacted me regarding this idea. 

Plus, destruction of a statue gives the illusion of having done away with something, I guess, slavery in this case, but actually nothing truly effective was done, e.g., respecting a person for the content of their character, rather than the color of their skin is the ultimate goal. 

Does destruction of any memorial or statue do that? Dr. Martin Luther King knew that only Jesus Christ truly changes the heart.

Finally, history, along with memorials, statues, battlefields, and much more, reminds us of past glories and catastrophes. A more fundamental solution relates to the power of forgiveness in resolving the pain of the past.

As long as people continue to focus on past sufferings and wounds with manifest or cloaked anger and revenge in their heart, any reminder of the trauma will hurt and/or trigger them, which is tragic; however, if they have forgiven, just as our Lord did on the cross, satisfying the cost of sin, they will find freedom from their emotional suffering. 

Time will heal, but only if one turns their back on the pain and anger. Likely, the option is only available to those redeemed in Christ.

Dr. Kenneth Carrico is a retired psychologist and Morganton resident. He addressed the Burke Board of Commissioners at its May meeting, proposing a new monument that addresses the evils of slavery be constructed at the courthouse.