Heritage or Hate:A Discourse Analysis of Confederate Statues

ABSTRACT: Across the country, Confederate monuments dot the American landscape. In response, people debate what should happen to these Confederate symbols in an era that is simultaneously defined by race consciousness (e.g., Black Lives Matter Movement) and the larger prevailing ideology of the colorblindness. Richmond, Virginia is no exception. This study analyzed the 1,133 voluntary online submissions made to the Monument Avenue Commission by Richmond area residents and found that leavers utilized more racial colorblindness to justify leaving the monuments in place, while removers engaged in a more race conscious discourse. While race shapes the conditions in which people of color live and are treated, racial colorblindness ignores these lived experiences. Thus, when leavers utilize frames of racial colorblindness, the relevance and transcendence of race is mitigated. When racial colorblindness is used in policy-making processes, the decisions made continue to ignore and enlarge the discrepancy in life chances of people of color.
KEYWORDS: colorblind, confederate, group position, monuments, race