American Symbolism

We need to replace Jackson on the $20 bill because he was a Native American killer. We need to keep Jackson on the $20 bill because he was an important military hero and a man who expanded the egalitarian leadership in the country.
We need to ban the Confederate flag because it was a symbol of rebellion and slavery. There is no need to ban the Confederate flag just because some crazies see it as a crazy symbol.

We need to ban rap music because it glorifies crime and misogyny. Rap music is artistic expression and cannot be suppressed regardless of its content.

What is happening here is opinions are becoming creeds. And these creeds demand divine-like purity. The founders of the nation owned slaves, or socialized with men who owned slaves or did not make a sincere effort to outlaw slavery so their remarkable accomplishment of the Declaration of Independence is tainted and the nation it created inferior. Lincoln did not outlaw slavery until well into the Civil War so he must not be much of a good guy. Worse, he on occasion denigrated miscegenation. Buzz Aldrin brought a consecrated host to the moon and took communion there; that is a violation of the separation of church and state and the moon landing is less of an achievement.

The most bigoted organizations in the history of mankind would include the American armed forces and the National Baseball League. Should we get rid of them?

Life is harder than this.

Arlington National Cemetery was founded by the victorious Union after the savage and destructive Civil War to bury its dead. There you will find Section 16. Section 16 contains the remains of hundreds of Confederate soldiers grouped around a modest monument to their devotion to "duty as they understood it" — a gesture by the Union of soldierly respect, without any concession regarding the purity of their cause.