Bob, no one is trying to erase history except possibly the right-wing mob who want to continue to have a statue honoring a horrible racist slaver, which Lee clearly was.
Denial of that is to deny history. There are countless examples throughout the world of statues of villains being torn down once the tyrants are gone. Stalin and Saddam come readily to mind. Do you think Germany should have statues of Hitler to preserve the "history" too?