Date
3-21-2025
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)
Chair
Rachel Piferi
Keywords
Confederate Monuments, Civil War monuments, History of monuments, Black Lives Matter Movement, racism, History professors
Disciplines
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Piper, Natania Y., "History Professors' Attitudes About Civil War Monument Removal: A Qualitative Study" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 6568.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/6568
Abstract
Violence in the United States is on the rise creating movements such as Black Lives Matter and others who call attention to ongoing racism in our country. One area of argument within the discussions of racism is the presence of Civil War monuments (CWMs) throughout the country. Many support the destruction, deconstruction, or relocation of these monuments, due to arguments that they are intended to demean and subjugate racial minorities. Others argue they do not carry this intent or meaning and are simply a memorial to former leaders. Little research exists that explores historian perspectives on this issue. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the viewpoints of history professors regarding monument removal. Sixteen history professors were queried through an interview regarding their viewpoints on the topic. Thematic and modified Van Kaam methods were used for data analyses to reveal themes and outliers. This qualitative study identified seven themes when answering the research questions. No definitive solution to the controversy was isolated, however many suggestions were proposed to assist those contracted to do so. Finally, the implication of this study is that there is no easy answer to this long- standing debate regarding CWM’s. In fact, sixteen well-educated professors were unable to agree on one. Unfortunately finding a solution has been complicated by the underlying, often not spoken of issue of racism, a factor which is nearly impossible to isolate from it. What this study does demonstrate is that there are a multitude of issues complicating the process that will need to be worked through before a community can safely and fairly determine a monuments fate.
