Confederate statues are 'billboards for racism.' Let's take them down the right way.

Look around. The statues are falling.

Not on their own accord, of course. Statues of Confederate military figures are being toppled by protesters outraged by racial injustice and the death of George Floyd, while some states and cities are removing the monuments on their own.

In recent days, the statue of Confederate Gen. Albert Pike was destroyed by demonstrators in Washington, D.C. and protesters in Richmond, Virginia, knocked down a statue of Confederacy President Jefferson Davis. The state of Kentucky announced it would remove its own statue of Davis from the Capitol and the city of Houston decided to remove all Confederate statues from its parks. In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper had two monuments removed from the State Capitol in the name of public safety. Similar scenes are playing out across America.

On one side, we have Americans outraged that their communities would still honor those who fought to preserve slavery during the Civil War. While supporters of the Confederate monuments often talk of heritage and history. President Trump has backed them with a promised executive order threatening federal prosecution for anyone who topples such a statue.