Amid a world that seems hell-bent on tearing down statues in a cathartic frenzy, it is worth sparing a moment to reflect on why we erected those statues in the first place. While the left thinks that a monument’s primary purpose is to glorify great dead white men, the reality is that they were meant to be symbols of hope and progress. 

This year marks the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook’s landing at Botany Bay, so even before the Black Lives Matter protests were exported to our shores, a showdown over how we view the past seemed inevitable.