Erasing state history

House Speaker Michael Madigan wants to eliminate all statues and images of historic Sen. Stephen A. Douglas from the Springfield Capitol. He sees him as a "symbol of hate." The only reason you have statues of Douglas next to Abraham Lincoln is a little thing called the "Lincoln-Douglas debates." The debates made Lincoln a national celebrity. That fame propelled him to the U.S. presidency. The debates were a key episode leading up to the American Civil War. But now Madigan wants to erase half of the story. Will we now refer to the "Lincoln-(blank) debates"? Or will we learn that Lincoln debated himself seven times? It's almost unbelievable. Our man Madigan should be careful. If political opinions change over the next 20 years, we may be looking to eliminate all vestiges of the fact that he ever existed. It's a slippery road when you try to make actual figures like Illinois Sen. Stephen A. Douglas disappear from history. Don't do it.

Michael R. Johnson

Naperville

Fair trade?

Let's keep the Stephen Douglas statue and get rid of Madigan.

Charles Brown

Naperville