US Civil War Wasn't Just About Slavery

Although the Southern states seceded because of slavery, it was not the only issue. Here is a word cloud taken from their Declarations of Causes:

Source - https://www.civilwar.org/learn/articles/reasons-secession

I think it's fair to say the two fundamental issues leading to the Civil War were property rights and the enforcement of constitutional guarantees. Unfortunately for all concerned, those property rights and guarantees involved human slaves as property.

Believe it or not, these two issues are at the heart of today's turmoil. The dwindling middle class is angry that the rich are gobbling up all their former property, and "the deplorables" are angry that the US Constitution is being ignored by the ruling class and by their own government.

The US Civil War left festering sores which have never healed. Merely removing statues and other symbols of the Confederacy will not help unless these two issues are resolved and those festering sores are healed.

By the way ... any demand for the payment of "reparations", which is almost certain to be the next step in the current conflict, will be like pouring gasoline on a fire.