Don’t destroy the statues of Robert E. Lee and ‘Che’ Guevara. I have a better idea.

(Photo: Gerry Broome AP)

I was in Argentina when the debate over efforts to tear down statues of Confederate hero Robert E. Lee exploded in the United States, and it sounded very much like the ongoing petition in that South American country to destroy monuments to guerrilla leader Ernesto “Che” Guevara. In both cases, there is a much better solution.

Why not let the statues of these historical figures stand, and build monuments to their victims right next to them?

Why not build, right next to each Robert E. Lee statue, a monument to the victims of slavery in the United States? Or, next to Argentine-born Cuban rebel “Che” Guevara, a monument to the people who were executed by him in Cuba?

Supporters of monuments to these and other controversial figures argue that they are part of each country’s history, and deserve to be treated like that. If that’s the case, it would make sense to place them in their context, next to other historic figures that represented opposite points of view.

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