re: Thoughts on Mayor Landrieu's speech before the removal of the monuments?

I would have preferred that the statues stay up. I grew up in New Orleans and I can say with certainty that looking at the statues never conjured up thoughts of the Confederacy for me. The statues were local landmarks that helped give a sense of place, especially Lee Circle and the Beauregard statue near City Park. However, Landrieu addresses that mindset in his speech and he makes a good point IMO. I think he made a strong case for their removal.