News and Politics

Social Media Reacts to Trump's Comments on Confederate Statues


After the removal of a statue to the Confederacy seemingly sparked violent white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia, other cities took a stand and removed their own statues memorializing Confederate figures. In other places, protesters called for the removal of local statues, and in Durham, North Carolina, protesters removed a statue of a Confederate soldier themselves. Meanwhile, Sen. Corey Booker, D- New Jersey, announced he plans to introduce legislation to remove Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol. But President Trump is not on board.

In a series of tweets on Thursday morning, Trump decried the removal of Confederate statues as the country's history being "ripped apart."


Many on Twitter have pointed out that removing statues dedicated to an era in which slavery and oppression were the norm, and upholding those who fought to keep that the status quo, isn't erasing or changing history — it's choosing not to celebrate those parts through a memorial. Some also said that continuing to have statues dedicated to the Confederacy is a painful reminder of white supremacy, and keeping them in place continues that legacy.


"The President of the United States believes there should be statues across this nation, honoring people who fought, and in some cases died, to keep American citizens, some people who live here, in chains," he said. "The President of the unites States believes the should honor in public places people who think that black and brown Americans, and in some cases Jewish Americans, are subhuman."

"There's been a conversation that we've had in political spaces where we like to 'both sides' this story. Is it erasing history, is this not. No," Lowery continued. "In our nation, we don't have statues of terrorists all over the place in other contexts."

Others have drawn comparisons between the U.S. having Confederate statues and the idea of Germany keeping statues of Hitler.

Activist and college student Takiyah Thompson, who was arrested for inciting a riot after she helped protesters remove a Confederate statue in Durham, told Democracy Now, statues to the Confederacy are symbols of white nationalism.

"I decided to climb to the top of the Confederate soldiers statue and put the rope around its neck and throw the rope down to the crowd. And the crowd could decide if they wanted to pull it down or not. And I did this because the statue is a symbol of nationalism, and it’s a symbol of white nationalism. And the type of white nationalism I’m talking about is the type of white nationalism that is sending me death threats on Facebook. I’m talking about the type of white nationalist that, you know, has killed a woman in a protest," she said. "We’re talking about the type of white nationalism that would drive a car at high speeds into a crowd of women and children. And I think vestiges of that, and I think anything that emboldens those people and anything that gives those people pride, needs to be crushed in the same way that they want to crush black people and the other groups that they target."

Related: Reactions to the Charlottesville White Nationalist Rally

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