Debate: Should Confederate Statues from the Past be Removed?

Story Description

The mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana removed four Confederate statues from the city to ease controversy of how the city remembers the Civil War.  He made a speech at the fourth and final removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Some saw these statues as symbols of white supremacy and of the systemic oppression of human beings, and some saw them as tributes to Confederate heroes.  Listen to learn more about the statue removal in New Orleans and its place in the nationwide debate about the removal of symbols of the Civil War then debate: Should Confederate statues from the past be removed?

Listening Comprehension Questions

• Why were the first three statues removed in the middle of the night?
• Why is the debate around Confederate statues particularly complicated
•  in New Orleans?
• What reasons did Mayor Mitch Landrieu give for removing the statues?
• In what ways do Confederate statues mean different things to different people?
  
   

Classroom Discussion Themes

• Debate: Should Confederate statues from the past be removed?
• What do you think people can learn from this debate over removing statues?

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