In Germany, seventy-nine years after World War II, it is illegal to use the language or symbols of the Nazis unless they are used in some sort of educational depiction of how the Nazis were absolutely horrible. At the moment a German politician, Bjorn Hocke, from a far-right party called Alternative for Germany, is facing two trials for using a Nazi slogan in his speeches. He is charged with ending a speech he made in Merseburg in May of 2021 with “ Everything for Germany!” and after being charged with that offense, he used the slogan again at the end of a speech in December of 2023 so he faces more charges. If he is found guilty and he serves time in jail he will be unable to run for political office.

In the United States, one hundred and fifty-nine years after the Civil War, the states of Alabama, Florida, Kentucky and Mississippi celebrate the birthday of the President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis. The State of Alabama is at present in the process of passing into law an option for state employees in which they can either celebrate the federal holiday that commemorates the end of slavery, Juneteenth, on June 19, or they can have a holiday on the 3rd of June to celebrate Jefferson Davis. Given that the Civil War was about preserving slavery in the states of the Confederacy it should be illegal to use the language or symbols of the Confederacy unless it is in some sort of educational depiction of how slavery was absolutely horrible.

After the 2017 “ Unite the Right “ neo-Nazi white nationalist riot to stop the removal of a Confederate statue from a college campus in Charlottesville, Virginia, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “ It is racist, far-right violence, and clear, forceful action must be taken against it , regardless of where in the world it happens!” Like Germany, America needs to establish a clearer perspective about the horrors in the nation’s past.