Lynching Memorial

A recent topic of discussion has been the installment of a memorial in Montgomery, Alabama that commemorates the lynching of over 4,000 African Americans between 1877 and 1950. The memorial, which includes statues of African Americans being murdered and monuments for each victim, is controversial in that it is a memorial of murder. Some argue that while remembering the evil racism of that period in American history is necessary, to have a memorial that is so disturbing and depressing is inappropriate. To even show the horrific images of lynchings on television, they argue, is disgraceful and offensive. However, I believe that this sentiment is far from true. There's a reality that we as Americans and as human beings must face, which is that something atrocious occurred in our country less than 100 years ago. This is something that is so bad and, as such, so crucial for each American to understand and contemplate, that it can't simply be talked about. We have to face these images, as difficult as that may be, because seeing them will have a much more profound impact both on our understanding of what occurred and on how we must react to it.
I say this from personal experience. While I was completely aware that such lynchings took place, I did not really understand just how common and cruel it was. Seeing the image of families, with their young children, celebrating the murder of African-Americans, was absolutely horrifying and eye opening. Seeing this alone really changes your perspective on the lynchings and on the culture of racism that was prevalent in our country less than a century ago. Seeing an image of an African-American whose body had been burnt and hung for all to gaze upon sent chills down my spine. The experience that one gets from the images and from the statues and monuments as well, is something that no textbook or conversation can fully capture, and is thus critical for every American to go through.  Furthermore, listening to individual stories of African-Americans who were lynched for the most ridiculous and racist of reasons helped me feel more of the pain that I needed to feel in order to really understand these events and that period as a whole.
As a Jewish person who has learned so much about the Holocaust, I completely understand the necessity of memorials for horrific events, and the importance of facing atrocities directly in the eye. Seeing movies that really captured the pain, cruelty, magnitude, and evil of the Holocaust helped me understand it a totally different way. When you see those painful images and zoom into the lives of specific people affected by the atrocity, you're moved emotionally by what occurred and understand why it must be remembered forever. When you walk away from a Holocaust movie or museum, you walk away with new understanding of how far prejudice and hatred can go, and you are hopefully motivated to treat others with more respect.
Similarly, painful and graphic memorials for lynchings tell that important story in the most powerful way, and hopefully inspire people to not only be kinder to others, but to stand up for those who are hated and discriminated against. Understanding atrocities that are rooted in hatred and prejudice can make a person more conscientious of the pain that others go through, and can motivate that person to be an upstander for those who voices are not heard.