When I talk about the Civil War or Confederate monuments, I hear complaints that I’m trying to change history. Is the new memorial in Alexandria changing history or correcting history? Yes to both. It’s recovering a story lost and creating a more accurate portrayal of the past. History is always changing. We link the past to our conception of the present and we always have. I want to change history because as a child in Alexandria I never understood the repugnant nature of slavery or the powerful history of African Americans in my city. Little wonder I grew up revering the Confederacy; my
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