This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.

Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick.

During the Trump administration, the culture war, as we know it, has gone from a war of words to an openly violent clash, with attacks taking place at protests in Portland,

New York, and many other places. It seemed to start in Charlottesville three years ago,

where a woman was murdered in a car attack by a right-wing protester. That Charlottesville rally,

attended by neo-Nazis as well as pro-Confederates, was held in support of a statue of General Robert E. Lee.

So a war that ended 150 years ago, remembered by monuments that went up 100 years ago, is now a flashpoint in a bitter partisan divide.

Our staff writer Casey Sepp grew up in the shadow of one of those Confederate monuments,

and she has this story about its fate. Here's Casey Sepp.

I grew up in a tiny town in Talbot County on the eastern shore of Maryland. It was like a lot of

the towns around here, little farming, little fishing communities,

places that have a post office and a few churches and not really much else.

So for me growing up, the big city was actually Easton, the county seat.

There's a movie theater, grocery stores, a bookstore, there was even a pet shop.

I really like to go and see the parrot there.

Easton, if you were to look at it, is really a picture postcard of a colonial town. It's got

brick sidewalks, old-timey street lamps. And right in the center of town is a courthouse.

If you came up Dover Street or you walk down Washington Street, you'd arrive right at the courthouse.

And you'd be standing on this little patch of green grass, looking at this cozy sort of red brick building that has a clock tower,

beautiful cupola on top that chimes the time.

And if you look to your left, you would see a statue of a boy holding a flag.

So we're looking at a statue of a young boy.

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