Tear down 'monuments'

Re. Bill Lingertwood’s letter Upset at 'woke cancel mob’ (Castanet, Feb. 1)

I don’t believe this has anything to do with the “woke” phenomenon that has taken over the last few years. This is righting a wrong that was perpetuated on people, many years past due.

I see from previous letters many of the white baby boomers are upset their monuments are being removed as I constantly hear cries of our history being erased.

I constantly see letters complaining that we need to keep these types of monuments so we do not erase our history, but remember and learn from it.

Guess what? The only ones who haven’t learned anything are the people who still harbour the same outlooks and prejudices from the past. Everyone else has vivid memories of the atrocities perpetuated by these men we glorified for decades or longer. Everyone else has stories passed down from parents and grandparents of just how terrible some had it under the reign of these men.

What we are trying to erase is the pain from the systematic oppression and colonization of people against their will, just because those white men had more resources and weapons to enforce their rules, and continued racism perpetuated to this day against people as a result.

As a middle-aged white woman, I have had to come to terms with my own past outlook and white privilege, and have made it my mission to uplift everyone, no matter their status, race or ideals.

We all deserve respect and compassion, and righting past wrongs by acknowledging our mistakes and making changes to make everyone in our country feel valued is a task we need to do.

I say tear down those monuments, topple the lot of them and replace them with ones that represent kindness, love and acceptance.

Sherrie Lutz, Kelowna