Stalin & Mother Armenia

The statue of Joseph Stalin (left) was unveiled in 1950. However, following his death and Krushchev's denunciation, it was torn down in 1962. The Mother Armenia statue (right) replaced it in 1967.
I think this holds a good lesson for the U.S. When statues no longer represent the values people want to celebrate, it's OK to replace them.

In this case, Stalin represented a time of dictatorship and civil terror. While he had the power to "disappear" people, making statues of him probably seemed like a good idea. Once he was gone, though, Armenians wanted something a better representative of their collective identity.

It wasn't a matter of "erasing history." Armenia just didn't feel Stalin was worth celebrating, and found something different.

There's nothing wrong with that.