This seems ludicrous to me. Certainly, no final answer is possible without doing the experiment. But I would suggest this: being radically anti-slavery in the Antebellum period was an unpopular position, by and large even up North, and nearly unheard of down South. Holding contrarian, unpopular views takes courage, and it takes the capacity for independent thought which courage provides.
What evidence could anyone offer me that the current crop of Leftists–the tearers-down–possess the slightest shred of moral or even physical courage? There are controversial ideas now–such as that this notion of government mandated social isolation is necessary and leading to a better outcome than business as usual for all but the sick and elderly–which NONE of these people are capable of thinking, much less holding, much less articulating and defending in public.
If they can’t think out of the box now, if they ask how high every time the government tells them to jump, why would they have been any different 150 years ago? Answer: they would not have. Cowards exist in every age, and it is not uncommon for many of them to think themselves brave. I call such people squirrel tamers, after the Monty Python skit. [actually, I rewatched it, and it is ant-eater. I still like squirrel better]
As I think I commented here, many of these tearers-down are the precise people calling the government to report cases of insufficient obedience to the dictates of this ludicrous pushing-apart.
“Yes, hello Government? I would like to report a father playing catch with his kids in his back yard. Yes, they are outside, and seem to be smiling and laughing. Can you send someone right away? It is causing me terrible anxiety. Thank you.”
This is an interesting time. So many good and so many bad things may happen.