Introduction to the Special Issue on Reframing Confederate Monuments: Memory, Power, and Identity

Objective. This article highlights the contours of the Confederate monument debate, frames the contributions to the special issue, and underscores important emergent themes from the collection as a whole. Method. By way of introduction, we articulate and examine the issue of Confederate monument contestation in terms of three concurrent debates and then provide theoretical synthesis across the various scholarly contributions presented in this special issue. Results. Several themes emerge. Memorials are rhetorical and evocative by design, articulating messages of memory, identity, and power. They are part of a broader living narrative giving cultural shape to the city and its inhabitants. Contesting them is part of a transitional justice process required of a society moving from racial oppression and marginalization toward racial equality and social justice. Conclusions. The contemporary debate over Confederate monuments holds deep theoretical implications for scholars across the disciplines of the arts, social sciences, and humanities. Consequently, the academy is significantly positioned to speak to this debate through its various avenues of community engagement.