But removing them is not enough, just as denouncing neo-Nazis is not enough. We must confront the fact that we have a racially divided labor market, with a police and prison system that criminalizes poverty and fails to keep us safe while the billionaires profit. To prevent crime, we need services that improve all people’s lives.

The key problem with these monuments is that they sustain a racist narrative used to build support for economic violence through public policy.