To the editor:

Cal Thomas is wrong. In his column, he misunderstands, or intentionally misunderstands, the reasons for taking down Confederate monuments.

Yes, some of these monuments should be placed in museums that explain the truth about the Civil War. However, Thomas says that they should remain in place so that “the conversation” continues. He says that taking them down amounts to censorship. That’s wrong. “The conversation” would be handled more intelligently in a museum where teaching can explain what happened better than any monument can.

Thomas decides to ignore the original intention of these monuments. They were built and placed in locations of honor (like town centers) to glorify the person and the cause. I would argue that their existence did nothing but lengthen the time it has taken for generation after generation to understand that slavery was wrong and that racism is not a positive attribute.

Then Thomas says that “the left” taking down monuments is tantamount to rewriting history and even compares this to the Nazis’ public burning of books in 1933. Wow. What a wonderful spin from a writer for conservatives.

I do agree that “the conversation” needs to continue. But Cal Thomas, if you truly want “the conversation” to continue, one way would be to stop the inflammatory language and name-calling. It doesn’t make you look smarter or help make your misguided argument.