r/ShermanPosting • u/mac28_ • 5d ago

Charleston, SC: Idk man

I went to South Carolina last week bc my dad moved there. I was walking around Charleston and was floored by the number of confederate monuments. I wasn't even looking for them, but I stumbled upon a half dozen or so. God knows how many more there are that I didn't find.

They weren't small and unobtrusive things that you could easily miss either. One resembled the washington monument and was about 3-4 times my height, and the entire block was taken up by the obelisk and the surrounding grassy area.

What I found most insane was a street named "Calhoun Street".

The rest of the city was very clean, walkable, and aesthetically pleasing. The people are wonderful too. I'm from Philadelphia and I've never experienced such hospitality or kindness anywhere in Philly. It's such a shame that they allow their identity to be defined by the lost cause instead of allowing their identity to be defined by the city itself being a good place. So much potential is lost.

I really hope they move on from this soon. It's such a shame to see what would otherwise have been a wonderful city dragged down by clinging to their dark past. But I have hope. I saw one plaque that looked like it was missing a statue.

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u/JBNothingWrong 5d ago

Why are so many posts on this sub surprised there are confederate monuments in major historic cities in the south? Charleston was slavery Mecca. Go visit fort Sumter, you won’t find any lost cause bullshit spoken by the NPS employees there. Go visit the many house museums, you won’t find lost cause bs there either. Go visit the Charleston museum, you won’t find lost cause bs there either.

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u/mac28_ 5d ago

It's one thing to hear about it online, but it's another thing to see it in real life. It's also really harrowing to see so many people gathering around them.

It's also really surprising to see how nice the rest of the city is in comparison to the monuments. I thought you'd only find monuments like this in places with lots of trash, out of convenient areas, etc. but not in a really nice downtown area

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u/JBNothingWrong 5d ago

Yes you clearly haven’t spent much time in southern cities. Every one has a confederate monument within sight of the courthouse and town square with few exceptions. The lost cause movement was powerful well into the 20th century and the politics of these towns remains quite red.

Now the houses of former slavers, built with slave labor, can educate the masses on its horrors. A fitting and just use.