"Historical Symbols in Midst of a ‘Purge Moment’"

"This week, President Obama said he would use his executive power to rename Mount McKinley as Denali, restoring its Alaska Native name. Democrats in several states have recently pushed to remove

 the names of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson from annual party gatherings. And the debate has seeped into sports and culture. For the past few years, the Washington Redskins have been under intense pressure to change their name...

There is a difficult and often arbitrary calculation in weighing a historical figure’s contributions to the nation or its culture along with his or her sins.

South Africa got rid of its flag and national anthem, but the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria that represented the Boer Trek of 1838 was ultimately maintained as a national historical site, even though, like the Confederate flag in the United States, it reminded black South Africans about the legacy of violent racism. Flags with Confederate components and statues of Confederate generals populate the United States Capitol, but they now share space with those that commemorate heroes like Rosa Parks."

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/02/us/historical-symbols-in-midst-of-a-purge-moment.html?emc=edit_th_20150902&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=8017714&_r=2

I mean, people have been fighting for this stuff for decades, so I would more categorize this as "finally the powerful white people care".