(CNN) To hear their defenders say it, Confederate memorials aren't symbols of hate; they are meant to honor a heritage.

But, as this chart above from the Southern Poverty Law Center shows, whenever the country appeared to have made some racial progress, cities and states -- mostly in the South -- responded by erecting such monuments.

There are two distinct spikes: one around the turn of the 20th century, and one during the height of the civil rights movement.

The first spike

The first spike is around 1900. That's 35 years after the end of the Civil War.

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