Confederate statues: Arkansas has them, too, of course

My column this week praises New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu for removal of Confederate monuments in his city and provides some of the background on how Arkansas joined the “cult of the Lost Cause” with a Robert E. Lee holiday and Confederate statuary.

So, for discussion on this Memorial Day weekend, what about Arkansas? Is there anyone, politician or otherwise, who says it’s time to remove Confederate monuments from the Capitol lawn?

Before hell rains down, note the dedication speeches on the soldiers’ statue and how it was intended as a symbol of the rightness of the cause of the Confederacy. I confess my own ambivalence. For whatever reason, I view tributes to those who joined the ranks in a state action differently than the tributes to Lee, Beauregard and Davis.

AP’s Andrew DeMillo reminds me of the new state law that requires legislative approval for addition or removal of monuments from Capitol grounds. (So as to prevent the Satanists from getting a patch of ground, primarily.) But no problem. It took a Council vote in New Orleans, too. Legislators will be fighting to co-sponsor this one, won’t they?