Civil War statues

I grew up during the late 50's and 60's.  i remember signs over water fountains saying for Whites and for Blacks.  Yes, I'm that old.  There is a statue on the Court House Square in my home town.  I think it was of a Civil War soldier.  It's been so many years I just remember it being there, but not much else about it.  My father-in-law's name was Robert E. Lee Turner.  He dropped the E. part and I never thought much about it.  I never gave much thought to why there was Civil War statues in the Southern States.  There were just there. Now I don't understand why we have them.  The South lost.  Why would you put up a statue to someone who lost a war?

 I lived in Germany and there they chipped out the Swastikas that were on buildings and there are no statues of Hitler.  I visited concentration camps while I lived there.  It was a emotional moment for me. That is what we should have. Memorals to the horror of Salvery so we will not allow humans to own other humans.  You can disagree and say it was about States rights, but I will always believe it was about Salvery.  I do not honor men who thought Salvery was their right. They can take the Satutes and move them to some place like the Smithsonian in a display of history. Not to honor them, but to show history as it truly was.

I once sat in a small park in Germany.  An older woman sat down beside me.  She wispered to me "Hitler build this park. He was a good man."  I couldn't believe she said that to me. Everyone has a right to their own opinion, but that just shocked me.