The debate over whether to remove Confederate monuments from the public square remains a hotly contested topic with seemingly little hope for middle ground.
But, in an interview with The New York Times, former President Jimmy Carter offers an interesting perspective on the topic.
The 39th president, who served from 1977 until 1981, said he doesn’t look at such memorials as being racist. But, he does understand why many oppose them.
“That’s a hard one for me,” the newspaper quoted the liberal Carter as saying. “My great-grandfather was at Gettysburg on the Southern side and his two brothers were with him in the Sumter artillery. One of them was wounded but none of them were killed.
“I never have looked on the carvings on Stone Mountain or the statues as being racist in their intent,” he added. “But I can understand African-Americans’ aversion to them, and I sympathize with them. But I don’t have any objection to them being labeled with explanatory labels or that sort of thing.”