How many Confederate place names are there? Now we have an idea.

Following the Charleston massacre, the Southern Poverty Law Center launched an effort to catalog and map Confederate place names and other symbols in public spaces, both in the South and across the nation. This study, while far from comprehensive, identified a total of 1,503.

These include:

●  718 monuments and statues, nearly 300 of which are in Georgia, Virginia or North Carolina;

●  109 public schools named for Robert E. Lee,

●  Jefferson Davis or other Confederate icons;

●  80 counties and cities named for Confederates;

●  9 official Confederate holidays in six states; and 

● 10 U.S. military bases named for Confederates.

Critics may say removing a flag or monument, renaming a military base or school, or ending a state holiday is tantamount to “erasing history.” In fact, across the country, Confederate ag supporters have held more than 350 rallies since the Charleston attack.

But the argument that the Confederate flag and other displays represent “heritage, not hate” ignores the near-universal heritage of African Americans whose ancestors were enslaved by the millions in the South. It trivializes their pain, their history and their concerns about racism — whether it’s the racism of the past or that of today.