Confederacy: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

As a german, I have to tell you, we don't have statues of Hitler standing around but we still remember our history and learn about it

When I was in Germany, I didn’t see one statute of Hitler, which was part of their history but they don’t want to memorialize it. Why is this so difficult for Americans?

“Think he deserved it?” Literally the fastest response anyone has ever given in history: “yeah.” Good on you Anderson.

This video has been up longer than than the confederacy existed

"All history should be remembered, but not all history should be celebrated."

I'm from the south. I have distant relatives who fought for the confederacy & not so distant ones who were in the KKK. When I was a kid was taught, both directly & indirectly, racist ideals of the white man's superiority over all other races, particularly African ones. As a young impressionable child I believed what I was told. It wasn't until I was a teenager I started questioning what I had been taught. When I got to college I soon realized what I had been taught was not only dead wrong, it was evil. I had to come to grips with the reality what my family had taught me was a hideous lie based on the hatred of human beings we and our descendants had been purposely cruel to for centuries. It was a bitter pill to swallow & it's caused a major rift in my family that persists to this day. I'm grateful younger members of my family aren't racist in the way the people I grew up with had been. It gives me hope for humanity's future that maybe one day we can put racism behind us. That would be beautiful.

I am Ugandan. Never in my life have I seen statues of Idi Amin. Still we learn from a young age about what he did in school and why we can't allow it to happen again. It's not hard

I still love the "friendly north-south rivalry" bit very much. Imagine that with the second world war. "A friendly axis-allies rivalry"

Statue of Robert E. Lee is removed from a public park somewhere "Aw fuck, now I can't remember who lost the Civil War."

americans: WE CAN'T EREASE HISTORY also americans: and then the settlers taught the natives how to grow corn :)

There is a difference between remembering terrible historical events and celebrating them with statues and flags

"Confederates during the Civil War had no problem whatsoever in associating their cause with the protection of slavery and a system of white supremacy which they thought was inherent in the Confederate world order. The Confederates of 1861-65 were much more honest about the importance of slavery than are the neo-Confederates of today." - Professor Brooks D. Simpson

I'm from Germany: I'm pretty sure we remember our history, but I can't remember being surrounded by nazi symbols and statues. So yes... you can remember history while not celebrating it.

Compromise: Since most of the statues are 75% horse anyway, just remove the people from the statues but keep the horses. Because horses are legit and also not pro-slavery.

When he asked the question "who was working that farm" while giving his suit a tug, he knows he won the argument.

Anderson's response is totally genuine. No hesitation. "Yeah." Love it.

I’m German and imagine if we would have Hitler monuments around here because it is “part of our history”.

„WHO WAS WORKING THAT FARM?“ - I am so fucking proud.

As an Australian I think this video is highly applicable to my country, especially in light of the failure of the Indigenous/Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament referendum.

I live in Charleston, SC. I watched protesters in Marion square call to dismantle the statue of John C. Calhoun, the seventh vice President and adamant pro-slavery supporter. His likeness stood tall above the square as a monument to the horrid thing he defended. I’m glad it’s in a museum today as a reminder of history. Seeing that thing taken down was like a breath of fresh air.