This is such a great point. Here's the deal, many of these statutes were strategically placed in areas purposely intended to mock the local people there. Getting rid of these statues dosn't change history! The thought of this is absolutely crazy.
But it's gotten to the point where mobs are targeting statues like Churchill, Columbus, etc....where does it stop when fault can be found in every man?
Columbus? He was one of the people pretty much everyone most wanted to see go. He didn't deserve it and Lee didn't want it OR deserve it.
The rest are CERTAINLY just petty tantrum throwing by the Daughters of the Confederacy. The traitorous statues aren't any more history than if my specific XBox had a sticker I put on it and named it after a fucking racist traitor. They were mass produced garbage, made to make a subtle racist jab against people.
Some statues we have been asking nicely for years to see them put in a museum where they belong, preferably one that contextualizes all their actions. Like Columbus. I was taught in school to revere him, to practically worship him. Great explorer he was not. He was a monster even in his day and age.
A lot of people were. We can remember them, our bloody history, in context. But we shouldn't have statues of the worst monsters in our public square.