The statues in question are of John Hunt Morgan, a Confederate general, and John C. Breckinridge, the 14th vice president of the United States who also served as the Confederate secretary of war. Opponents of Confederate symbols see them as celebrations of racism and slavery, but their defenders say they are historically important and accuse critics of erasing the past or attacking white or Southern heritage. But the removal of Confederate symbols has raised the specter of violence before. Confederate battle flags and other symbols of the Old South appeared at Trump rallies held in former Confederate states like Florida and Virginia but also in places far above the Mason-Dixon line, including Colorado, Michigan and Oregon. When Mr. Trump announced his candidacy in 2015, he said that he supported Ms. Haley’s call for the Confederate flag to be removed from the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse.

Source: New York Times August 14, 2017 15:22 UTC