Most of the statues were put up in the eras of Jim Crow, and the civil rights movement. They aren't "historical". They were "in your face" statements. Who puts up that many statues to people who tried to overthrow their government?

I don't have a problem with historical statues, as in if they were there before those times.
I have a problem with statues featuring prominently in towns in a way that pretty much says "fuck you and your civil rights/racial equality", which is why they're there. When they're in the center of a town, they're telling everybody that's what the town believes.