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Why is the United States convulsed by a debate over Confederate monuments?

President Donald Trump used a rally in Arizona on Tuesday night to reiterate his concern at the flurry of Confederate monuments being taken down.

Hours before he spoke, the city council in Charlottesville, Virginia, voted to drape two Confederate statues in black fabric. 

The meeting - the first since violent protests on August 12 which killed Heather Heyer - was chaotic, packed with irate residents who screamed and cursed at councillors over the city's response to the white nationalist rally.

Mr Trump then voiced his support for the monuments.

"They're trying to take away our culture," he said.

"They are trying to take away our history. 

"And our weak leaders, they do it overnight. These things have been there for 150 years, for 100 years. You go back to a university, and it's gone. Weak, weak people."

He expressed fears, commonly voiced by defenders of the monuments, that statues to the Founding Fathers will be next in line for renewal.

Workers prepare to take down the statue of former Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which stands over 100 feet tall, in Lee Circle in New Orleans - Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP
Workers prepare to take down the statue of former Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which stands over 100 feet tall, in Lee Circle in New Orleans Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP

But America is not alone in having this debate.

In Australia a statue of Captain Cook in Sydney is the focus of anger. And in Taiwan, statues of Chiang Kai-shek - the former president of China - aroused anger, and sparked discussion of how his memory should be handled.

After his death in 1975 and Taiwan’s transition to democracy in the 1980s and ’90s, many people called for the monuments’ removal. 

More than 200 statues have been removed and relocated from across the island to a park near Chiang’s mausoleum in Taoyuan, a city in northern Taiwan. But thousands of statues remain untouched across the island.

Watch the video above to learn about the complex history of Confederate statues in the US.

Should Confederate era statues be removed?
Should Confederate era statues be removed?