After the racially-charged violence in Charlottesville, a major conversation is happening nationally, regionally and locally about whether or not to remove statues of Confederate leaders.

In Cola, statues of Ben Tillman (a white supremacist governor + U.S. senator), J. Marion Sims (gynecology pioneer who practiced on nonconsenting women slaves) and a Confederate soldier stand on the State House grounds. (After the 2015 killings of nine black citizens in Charleston by a white supremacist, the Confederate flag was removed from the State House grounds.)

Several local groups + leaders want Cola’s Confederate statues + memorials to come down, including Simple Justice Black Lives Matter, Indivisible Midlands, Greater Columbia Action Together, S.C. Rep. Todd Rutherford + Mayor Steve Benjamin. Some say we should honor the past by celebrating the ideas that move us forward, not people/icons from the past.

On the other side, some local officials say the monuments should not be removed. State Sen. Katrina Shealy of Lexington County says we “cannot and should not try to change history.”

What’s stopping the removal? The Heritage Act, an S.C. law that bans the alteration of any public displays without approval from two-thirds of legislators. But Rep. Rutherford has called the Act unconstitutional, and plans to introduce a bill that would make removal easier.

What do you think? Let us know.

6 min read / Free Times