Most of those "beautiful statues and monuments" were put up during two times. First was the Jim Crow era. African-Americans were getting rights that some in power didn't want them to use. So, along with laws segregating blacks and whites, statues were erected to Civil War "heroes" with the intention of reminding any uppity black person of slavery in the hopes that they'd go back to what the racists thought was their "rightful place."

The second time was during the Civil Rights era when segregation was ending. Again, some in power didn't like this and so made more callbacks to slavery and the Civil War to intimidate more black people. Of course, it didn't work overall and segregation was dismantled.

These statues and monuments aren't of real heroes. They're of traitors who rebelled against the United States, fought, and lost. Even General Lee didn't want any Confederacy monuments erected. So a statue "honoring" General Lee actually goes against his wishes.

But I'm sure it's "beauty" that Trump sees being removed. :bs: (That's directed at Trump, not Shelly.)