@Hedgehog, I am not sure which specific monuments you might have in mind. I will agree with you, that here in America, some go too far. Not all monuments need be torn down. But it just reminds me, personally, of the emotion behind the fall of the Berlin Wall (parts of which still stand), in that once the first brick was torn free, there was built up emotion that was finally released and people got caught up in it. But the emotion has overtaken rationality sometimes. And there is a tendency to hold the past to values of the present, which is not realistic nor fair.
But in the statues I'm discussing, my argument is that they should be torn down not (just) because they offend some people, but because they are ahistorical to begin with. Preserving them is not preserving history, but corrupting it. Here is an internet article that you might be interested in if you are not already familiar with the history of the statues in question:
The Alabama Legislature adjourned in 1900 so the United Daughters of the Confederacy could convene its national convention in the state Capitol. The women sat just steps away from the spot where Confederate President Jefferson Davis took the oath of office 39 years before. “You stand before th
birminghamwatch.org
Still, for me, history doesn't trump all. I think most people learn more from literature than they do from history anyway. And I will not support symbolism that can oppress people just because it is historic. That was the past. I want a better future. I do not think anyone would think it is a good idea to put up holocaust symbolism in either Berlin or Jerusalem. Yes, it is history, something we should never forget because we don't want to repeat it, but it is unnecessary, and offensive nonetheless. (Yet the holocaust museum in Washington DC is a powerful experience that I strongly encourage all to visit.)
Even those who erected the statues offer in their own defense that there currently are those that would use this symbolism to spread hate. It has nothing to do with learning from the past to not repeat it, but of celebrating or glorifying an attitude of superiority. So, keeping those statues might not prevent the horrible acts of the past, but perpetuate them.