Historic Robert E. Lee Statue Being Removed

 

CREDIT: Ryan M. Kelly/AFP/Getty Images

Virginia has recently taken down a towering statue of Confederate General. Robert E. Lee. It was teh last Confederate statue that remained along Richmond's historic Monument Avenue.

Supreme Court ruling cleared the removal after extreme national debate over the purpose and place of the 12-ton statue.

This statue, along with other symbols of the Confederacy in the commonwealth have been removed since George Floyd's murder prompted nationwide reckoning around police brutality and racism.

The statue was brought down just before 9:00am. Surrounding crowds were chanting "na, na, na, na. Hey, hey, hey, goodbye" and "Black Lives Matter."

29-year-old Alexcia Cleveland who was present for the removal, said she was emotional as it was lifted from the pedestal.

"It's electrifying. It's bittersweet. I'm glad to see it down, but I would like to see more progress on issues such as police brutality and housing inequality."

She also believed she'd never see the statue's removal happen, until she witnessed the protests last year.

Founder of BLM RVA, Lawrence West said it is "very satisfying, gratifying" that the statue was removed.

"Robert E. Lee standing here on Monument Avenue is very symbolic to the Confederate mindset, you know the levels of oppression that people feel on a regular day-to-day basis. With the coming down of the monument it is also a part of coming down with those types of ideals. It brings some closure to the conversation, 'It's OK to be racist.'"

Governor. Ralph Northam announced the plans to remove the statue in June 2020. He met legal challenged.

Some Richmond residents sued, their argument stating that an 1890 deed and an 1889 General Assembly joint resolution prohibited the governor from directing the removal of a statue monument from state property.

They also claimed property rights enabling them to enforce the deeds. They said they required Virginia to keep the statue in its place.

Virginia's Supreme Court disagreed, explaining the claims were without merit and dissolved injunctions imposed by the lower court. 

Northam thought the rulings were a "tremendous win" and bringing the statue down would help move the state "into a more inclusive, just future."

Attorney for Monument Avenue residents, Patrick McSweeney explained he requested a rehearing.

Mark Herring, Virginia Attorney General contradicted that the state's high court "stated plainly that the prior injunction pending appeal was dissolved 'immediately.'"

Some residents tried blocking the removal, but over 50 residents supported the removal.

Marland Buckner, who has lived in the area since 2015, supported the removal and said it's been "very difficult, frustrating" and sometimes "exhilarating" watching the actions happening on his street the past year, and generally "a real challenge."

"Part of what people have to appreciate about, not just this monument but others like it, it that we've reached a point in public life where these things are an attractive nuisance...They're flashpoints for violence and conflict."

"While it is important on one hand to recognise and to celebrate that there is a certain amount of broad-based social urgency to removing these statues and other symbols of White supremacy, there is nothing like having bullets flying across your yard and having, as what was in our case, a Molotov cocktail light a truck on fire on my front step to focus your mind on what's important."

Levar Stoney, Richmond Mayor, turned to his emergency powers in order to remove several Confederate monuments honouring General. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, General. J.E.B Stuart and others.

Protestors have also capsized a Jefferson Davis monument. He was the president of the Confederate states during the Civil War.

The stature is being placed in secure storage at a state-owned facility until further disposition decisions have been made.

The pedestal sat on by the statue will stay in place during a community-driven effort to "reimagine" Monument Avenue.

A time capsule is scheduled to be replaced with a new capsule made by sculptor Paul DiPasquale and will include 39 artifacts.

Some of the items included will be a photo taken of a Black ballerina at the monument last year, Kente cloth, and a COVID-19 vaccination card.

"The past 18 months have seen historic change, from the pandemic to protests for racial justice that led to the removal of these monuments to a lost cause. It is fitting that we replace the old time capsule with a new one that tells that story." said Governor. Ralph Northam.

Lately, the statue and the surroundings have been used as an intersection of protests, dance, activism, and a somber place of reflection. A hologram of George Floyd was illuminated their mid-last year.

West believes the statue should belong in a museum in order to stay preserved as an artifact from a historical moment.

"This is ground zero and this expression has to be defended." He also said there is more to be done following the removal. He includes curbing gun violence.

"It's not just the overall symbols of oppression and the general oppression ideals that we need to combat. We also need to combat things on the local level as well."