In the 1980s and 1990s the concept of Repressed Memory attained wide public awareness after percolating in the academia since 1896, when it was identified by Sigmund Freud in his essay Zur Ätiologie der Hysterie (“On the etiology of hysteria”). All went well till the people started recalling encounters with UFOs and visiting aliens on other planets. That was the start of the end of Repressed Memory concept and it died completely after a series of scandals, lawsuits, and license revocations.
Perhaps this whole Confederate statues issue is reaching the same point of absurdity. Here are some examples.
Traveler, USC’s mascot, comes under scrutiny for having a name similar to Robert E. Lee’s horse
Confederate flag ‘looking’ tiles to be removed from subway
Joan of Arc statue in French Quarter tagged with ‘Tear It Down’ graffiti
Group calls for removal of Christopher Columbus statue downtown
Black Pastors Ask Smithsonian to Remove Bust of Planned Parenthood Founder
Work crew removes Taney statue from Maryland State House grounds
Who knows what examples tomorrow’s news will bring us. Perhaps redesign of the Roman numeral “X” because it looks too similar to the Confederate flag below? Perhaps remove the statues of Malcolm X because his last name is lifted right off the Confederate flag? Oh sorry, it is already in the works! Statue of Malcolm X in Oakland Should Be Removed
As for those guys walking around with tiki torches, anybody who walks around with those torches without serving Mai Tai is a fool.