The woman in the picture above, Arlene Barnum, of Oklahoma, understands that the preservation of our history and culture is essential. She is pictured in front of city hall in new Orleans holding a Confederate flag. Brave lady! Her group is called Confederate Veterans Lives Matter…Love it!

City Hall became the scene of competing opinions over the removal of prominent Confederate monuments along some of New Orleans’ busiest thoroughfares. The City Council set aside time to let the public voice feelings over a proposal to remove four monuments linked to Confederate history.

Impassioned residents heckled each other and at least one man made an inappropriate gesture that got him escorted out of City Hall during a heated debate Thursday over whether city officials should remove prominent Confederate monuments from some of New Orleans’ busiest thoroughfares. WHO’S PAYING THE BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTERS?

Those arguing before the City Council to keep the monuments included preservationists who valued them as pieces of history and military veterans who said they were a way to honor American soldiers. Those opposed included pastors who called them symbols of racism and African-Americans who called them offensive. Opinions often appeared to divide along racial lines.

Before the meeting, a handful of people held Confederate flags in support of the statues while a larger group gathered next to them and held signs demanding removal.

The monuments in question include imposing statues of Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard, Confederate generals, and a dedication to Jefferson Davis, the Confederate president.

The council has scheduled a vote on the removal plan for next week.

Read more: Miami Herald