Momentum to remove anything that might be deemed offensive from our lives or public view is gaining steam over the last few weeks. Whether it's the people demanding removal of offensive statues, paintings, or other memorials or the people that are just tearing them down on their own, the justification they claim to have is that the people being memorialized were racist slave owners. Or somehow otherwise abusive of a demographic group. While there is some truth in the concerns, the facts are complicated. And now this movement has started to ensnare other symbols that are only "guilty" by proximity.

First let me say that the truth about many of these historical figures is complicated not only because of the times in which they lived but clearly even some of our founding fathers who were slave owners struggled with the idea. But why have we gotten to the point where we throw out everything they accomplished that was good and beneficial to their community, their state, and their country? Why can't we acknowledge the good along with the bad? Even those that history credits with ending some of the horrible practices of the past are being targeted, such as Betsy Ross or Abraham Lincoln.

Does a statue of Robert E. Lee or some other Confederate figure or flag make you uncomfortable? Good. That means you acknowledge that part of what the person did was wrong, and you are less likely to repeat it. You have learned a lesson from history that will make you more aware of how it happened, why it happened and take steps to prevent it from happening again.

Likewise, failing to ignore the truth about history, can lead you down a road where more mistakes are likely to be made. Failing to acknowledge the role of blacks in the slave trade or the fact that there was a large number of free black citizens in the United States, some of whom were quite successful and also slave owners, cannot lead to true solutions that will promote progress. Unless you identify all of the symptoms and causes of an illness, you will never truly cure the disease. You are more likely to implement so called solutions that will exacerbate the underlying problem.

Emmanuel Acho of the NFL has a podcast in which this week he was discussing the reality of growing up in a country where you can see reminders of the way your ancestors were treated. Hey country in which he says, a man that looked like him would at any moment be snatched into slavery or killed simply because of the color of his skin. His statement is partially true, sadly, but also partially false. Again, there were blacks living in America at the time of slavery that were free and comfortable and felt safe in their lives.

It also ignores the fact that people like myself are told every day that we must pay for the sins that other people committed; people that may not have any relation to my lineage and certainly people that I had no contact or influence over. And don't tell me that because of the color of my skin and the false pretense of 'white privilege,' that I cannot understand fearing for my life simply because of the color of my skin. There are neighborhoods in this country where I cannot go unless I want to put my life in danger. I experienced that several times in my previous career where on at least two occasions we had to have police escorts to enter a neighborhood, because as the officers put it, those guys standing on the street corner would just as soon kill you has anything else.

With regards to the removal of symbols that are only guilty by association or proximity, the University of Texas is dealing with demands from its football players that the fight song, The Eyes of Texas, be removed because of its racist undertones. In the lyrics there is absolutely nothing racist but the tune to which the song is sung may have come from a song that some consider racist. There are so many popular songs throughout history that have used the melody from something else, including our national anthem or many popular songs that use tunes based on gospel music, but that does not mean that the negative connotation from the original song travels with the melody to the new song.

At the University of Florida, the chancellor announced that they were banning the chant 'Gator Bait' from athletic contests because there is an obscure claim in history that black children may have been used as bait to attract alligators during hunting expeditions. The claim has been made based upon some postcards and cartoons that depicted the practice but it is never been shown to have actually occurred. Yet somehow while the chancellor admits that there is no racial undertone or connotation to the chant, he is going to ban it because some people believe the claim.

Where does it stop? At what point do we say that the relationship to something that is negative is broken? There is not a human being in our history that is perfect. Every one of our historical figures, everyone that is walked the face of this earth, has done good things and not so good things and some of them have been horrible. We as a species have condemned those that were more horrible than good and have celebrated those that were more good than bad recognizing that none of us is perfect.

I have no doubt that we are at a time when real change can be made to cure the ills of certain segments of our society. But unless we acknowledge all of the factors and have a real discussion about who is responsible for the ills of today in society and how we can cure the causes, then nothing will change. Then in another year or so we will be right back where we have been so many times over the last 40 years, lamenting the acts of a bad actor that led to riots and a call for a national conversation.