Invoking Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s own words, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday that the statue of Lee would be removed from Monument Avenue in Richmond.
“In Virginia, we no longer practice a false version of history,” Northam said, ordering the statue removed “as soon as possible.”
The governor said there will be “discussions” about what to do with the statue and the pedestal.
The Lee statue is one of five Confederate monuments along Monument Avenue, a prestigious residential street and National Historic Landmark district in Virginia’s capital.
Monuments along the avenue have been rallying points during protests in recent days over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police last week, and they have been tagged with graffiti, including messages that say 鈥渆nd police brutality鈥� and 鈥渟top white supremacy.鈥�
Asked 鈥淲hy now?,鈥� Northam replied, 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty apparent.鈥�
Lee’s words
The governor said, 鈥淟ee himself didn鈥檛 want a monument, but Virginia built him one anyway.”
Northam quoted Lee’s words: 鈥淚 think it wise not to keep open the sores of war, but to follow the example of those nations who endeavor to obliterate the marks of civil strife.”
But 鈥淰irginia leaders said, 鈥榃e know better,鈥欌�� Northam said. The erection of the statue in 1890 was just part of 鈥渁 new campaign to undo the results of the Civil War by other means,鈥� which included new laws, including limits on the right to vote, which cut the number of registered black voters by 90%.
鈥淲e put things on pedestals when we want people to look up,鈥� Northam said. 鈥淭hink of the message this sends.鈥�
Saying that the six-story monument towers over its surroundings, the governor added, 鈥淲hen a young child looks up and sees something that big and prominent, she knows that it must be important. And when it鈥檚 the biggest thing around, it sends a clear message: 鈥楾his is what we value the most.鈥� But that鈥檚 just not true anymore.鈥�
He called the honoring of Lee an aspect of the 鈥渇alse version of history鈥� that claims the Civil War was about states鈥� rights rather than slavery.
鈥淣o one believes that any longer,鈥� Northam said.
‘It’s time’
A chorus of Virginians, including elected officials and activist citizens, echoed Northam’s words.
鈥淟adies and gentlemen, it鈥檚 time,” said Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, introducing Northam. “It鈥檚 time to put an end to the Lost Cause and fully embrace the righteous cause.鈥�
He added, “Richmond is no longer the capital of the Confederacy.鈥�
Zyahna Bryant, who wrote the first petition in 2016 calling for the removal of the Lee statue in Charlottesville, called for more of the kind of activism that had brought the Richmond statue down.
鈥淲ithout a little bit of making people uncomfortable,” she said, “we wouldn鈥檛 be here.鈥�
Bryant concluded by saying, 鈥淏lack lives matter.鈥�
Rev. Robert W. Lee IV, great-great-grandnephew of the Confederate general, said that 鈥淭oday the world is watching鈥� because of the protests surrounding Floyd’s death.
鈥淚f today is not the right time, when will it be the right time?鈥�
During the announcement, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax said, “This is the first day of the next 400 years.”
He called conditions such as substandard schools and housing, and inequities in health and criminal justice, 鈥渟hrines of an ideology of inferiority鈥� that constituted 鈥渕ore Confederate monuments.鈥�
Fairfax added, 鈥淭here is so much more work to be done.” And he concluded, 鈥淎merica has its best days ahead of us because of what we鈥檙e doing right now.”
Attorney General Mark Herring called the Lee memorial 鈥渁 grandiose monument honoring a racist insurrection.鈥�
The way we explain our history, he said, influences 鈥渢he way each of us view our role in our society.鈥� He added, 鈥淗ow do you possibly explain these statues to a black child? 鈥� You can鈥檛.鈥�
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., a former governor of Virginia, was asked about the decision to bring down the statue during a conference call with reporters. “I think it鈥檚 time,” he said, noting the moment and that there was local support in Richmond for the decision.
Northam seemed to refer to his blackface scandal from last year, answering a question about his process toward making Thursday鈥檚 order, saying he had spent a lot of time 鈥渓istening and learning.鈥�
He encouraged all Virginians to do so, as one of the steps the commonwealth could take moving forward.
A movement
Confederate memorials began coming down after a white supremacist killed nine black people at a Bible study in a church in South Carolina in 2015, and then again after a violent rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville in 2017.
Word got out Wednesday that Northam would announce the removal. The same day, Stoney announced plans to seek the removal of the other Confederate monuments along Monument Avenue, which include statues of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Gens. Stonewall Jackson and J.E.B. Stuart. Those statues sit on city land, unlike the Lee statue, which is on state property.
Stoney said he would introduce an ordinance July 1 to have the statues removed. That鈥檚 when a new law goes into effect, which was signed earlier this year by Northam, that undoes an existing state law protecting Confederate monuments and instead lets local governments decide their fate.
The monument-removal plans drew criticism Wednesday from the Virginia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Republican state Sen. Amanda Chase, who is running for governor, has started a petition on her campaign website to save the statues, claiming, 鈥淭he radical left will not be satisfied until all white people are purged from our history books.鈥�
Joseph Rogers, a descendant of enslaved people and an organizer with the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality, said Wednesday at a rally near the Lee Monument that he felt like the voices of black people are finally being heard.
鈥淚 am proud to be black, proud to be Southern, proud to be here right now,鈥� Rogers said.
91欧美激情’s Mitchell Miller and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
