Confederate Monument at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

 The Confederate Monument at Hollywood Forever Cemetery represented the scarce population of confederates who resided in California following the Civil War. The monument is owned by the Daughters of the Confederacy and is the organization that made the difficult decision to remove the monument following an incident of vandalism. The purpose of the monument was for Confederate veterans and their families to have a place to memorialize the lives of the soldiers. Today, the monument is no longer viewed by the public following a series of protests for racial injustice and police brutality towards African Americans. While it is never advised to remove something that memorializes the lives of veterans, some individuals argued that these monuments represent a hateful period towards minorities and decided they wanted them to be removed.

The Daughters of the Confederacy were adamant about the statue remaining where it was until the monument was vandalized. While this was a difficult time in our country’s history, I believe it is important to remember how we got to where we are. Of course, hateful statues and monuments should be removed but monuments such as the Hollywood Forever one are just there to remember loved ones, not spread hate. The Daughters of the Confederacy wanted the monument to be protected because it symbolizes a memorial for Confederate soldiers and their families. While the dark parts of our country's history are hard to discuss, it is important to remember these times to know how to move forward in a positive way (United Daughters of the Confederacy).

This monument was one of many that had been protested for its removal. The issue with these Confederate monuments stems from years of oppression of African Americans. The outrage of these issues has been protested and the removal of statues and monuments has been the result. The statues/monuments with hateful messages should be removed in order to move forward as a united country. However, the memorial monuments that families use to remember their loved ones should remain. The principle of this is simply to respect the memorial and focus on moving forward from our troubling history.

The significance of this monument represents the small number of Confederate soldiers who took residence in California following the war. The message this monument represents is not a hateful message but one to remember the lives of family members. This could have been someone's only way to remember someone and now they no longer have that opportunity. This does not take away from the importance of the protester's message but the focus should be on the statutes and monuments that are portraying hateful messages instead of memorials.

The controversy of this monument is important to understand how Americans are trying to move forward from the normalization of certain aspects of history. Racism is still an issue today and it is incredibly important to speak out against such forms and messages of hate. The tricky area of this situation is that these monuments are preserved pieces of history that hold importance to some organizations such as The Daughters of the Confederacy ( American Bar). While this was a bad time in our country’s history, I believe it is important to remember how we got to where we are. The Civil War created division in the country over slavery. Certain monuments are a constant reminder to the oppressed about who was in control at the time. This is relevant today because of the blatant racism that stills exists. It is important to recognize which monuments are to memorize and which ones are discriminatory and demeaning. Of course, hateful statues and monuments should be removed but monuments such as the Hollywood Forever one are just there to remember loved ones, not spread hate (Castillo).

The Confederate Monument at Hollywood Forever Cemetery holds importance to those families and friends of the Confederate soldiers of California. The monument sparked controversy with protesters of racial injustice which led to the removal from the cemetery. This was a pivotal moment for protesters as well as the families who utilized the memorial. The message of the protesters fighting for racial inequality is very important and should be heard. However, tampering with a memorial is not going to move us in the right direction. This monument represents the lives of people's loved ones and regardless of Confederate/Union representation, a memorial should never be vandalized. To move forward in this country, we have to understand these hard times in history and learn from them. Trying to manipulate the past is only going to push us farther back when that is not the goal. This monument will be remembered by simply being a place for families to mourn and celebrate the lives of their loved ones.

“Following Public Scrutiny, Hollywood Forever Cemetery Removes Confederate Monument.” NBC Los Angeles, https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/hollywood-forever-cemetery-confederate-monument-removal/22100/. Accessed 12 March 2021.

United Daughters of the Confederacy | Historical – Educational – Benevolent – Memorial – Patriotic. https://hqudc.org/. Accessed 16 Mar. 2021.

 “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Removes Confederate Monument after Calls from Activists and Threats of Vandalism.” Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2017, https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-hollywood-forever-monument-20170815-story.html.

Traces of the Civil War in California.” Social Sciences, 3 Oct. 2017, https://socialsciences.ucla.edu/2017/10/03/stories-20170821/. Accessed 12 March 2021.

 Confederate-Monument Removals Slowed by Knot of Legal Issues. https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/publications/youraba/2019/december-2019/efforts-to-remove-confederate-monuments-slowed-by-knot-of-legal-/. Accessed 16 Mar. 2021.

Castillo, Elizabeth. “What’s Left of Confederate Monuments in California.” CalMatters, 13 July 2020, https://calmatters.org/multimedia/2020/07/whats-left-of-confederate-monuments-in-california/.