12/30/2021
Richmond's Lee Statue, other Confederate Memorials Could go to Black History Museum
Breaking Newstags: memorials, Confederacy, Robert E. Lee, monuments
City and state officials have reached an agreement to transfer ownership of the statue and pedestal of Gen. Robert E. Lee to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, which has also agreed to take possession of all the other Confederate memorials removed from Richmond since last year.
Under this arrangement, Richmond’s Black History Museum would work in partnership with the Valentine museum — which has chronicled the city’s history for more than a century — and local community members to determine the fates of the stone and bronze symbols of the Confederacy.
The deal requires approval by Richmond’s City Council. Mayor Levar Stoney — who hammered out some of the details with Gov. Ralph Northam (D) — said in a written statement that the arrangement enables the community to take a deliberate approach in reckoning with such divisive symbols.
“Entrusting the future of these monuments and pedestals to two of our most respected institutions is the right thing to do,” Stoney said in the statement, obtained by The Washington Post and planned for release Thursday morning. “They will take the time that is necessary to properly engage the public and ensure the thoughtful disposition of these artifacts.”
Since last summer’s racial justice protests, many cities around Virginia have removed Confederate memorials from public spaces. But they’ve often struggled to figure out what to do with the oversized artifacts.
Albemarle County drew criticism from social justice advocates for agreeing to send its “At Ready” Confederate soldier statue to a battlefield in the Shenandoah Valley, where it can remain on public display. The city of Charlottesville, on the other hand, sparked outrage from preservationists by donating its statue of Lee to the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, which plan
comments powered by Disqus
News
- The Debt Ceiling Law is now a Tool of Partisan Political Power; Abolish It
- Amitai Etzioni, Theorist of Communitarianism, Dies at 94
- Kagan, Sotomayor Join SCOTUS Cons in Sticking it to Unions
- New Evidence: Rehnquist Pretty Much OK with Plessy v. Ferguson
- Ohio Unions Link Academic Freedom and the Freedom to Strike
- First Round of Obama Administration Oral Histories Focus on Political Fault Lines and Policy Tradeoffs
- The Tulsa Race Massacre was an Attack on Black People; Rebuilding Policies were an Attack on Black Wealth
- British Universities are Researching Ties to Slavery. Conservative Alumni Say "Enough"
- Martha Hodes Reconstructs Her Memory of a 1970 Hijacking
- Jeremi Suri: Texas Higher Ed Conflict "Doesn't Have to Be This Way"
Trending Now
- New transcript of Ayn Rand at West Point in 1974 shows she claimed “savage" Indians had no right to live here just because they were born here
- The Mexican War Suggests Ukraine May End Up Conceding Crimea. World War I Suggests the Price May Be Tragic if it Doesn't
- The Vietnam War Crimes You Never Heard Of