Earlier this week, protestors gathered around the Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue. On Thursday Gov. Ralph Northam announced plans to remove the statue "as soon as possible." (photo by Jay Paul)
On Thursday, Gov. Ralph Northam announced plans to remove Richmond’s 6-story-tall Robert E. Lee statue “as soon as possible," saying that the Lee statue, which has stood along Monument Avenue for more than 100 years, serves as a symbol of a system of enslavement and oppression that Virginia can no longer honor.
This announcement came only a few hours before a nationally televised memorial service for George Floyd, the 46-year-old African American man whose death has incited massive protests across the country and around the world. In Richmond, the Lee statue has been a focal point for demonstrators, who have rallied around its removal daily and have tagged its pedestal with “Black Lives Matter” and anti-police brutality messages.
Northam said the state will make plans with contractors to remove the bronze statue from its pedestal in the coming weeks and will then decide whether to leave the pedestal bare or place a new statue atop it. The state’s Department of General Services will house the Lee statue in a warehouse until an appropriate resting site is determined. The state is also “in the midst” of discussions around what to do with the spray-painted messages on the pedestal, he said.
The press conference opened with a statement from Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, who commended the governor’s decision to take down the monument. “It’s time that we embrace our diversity. It is time that we remove barriers that hinder the dreams of black children in our community. In the 100-plus years since these monuments were erected, we have known better,” he said.
Stoney committed to proposing an ordinance to City Council alongside 9th District Councilman Michael Jones on July 1 that will seek to remove all city-controlled Confederate monuments on Monument Avenue, saying, “This is our chance to write a new chapter in our history, and to carry the story of a diverse and loving city and commonwealth forward with us.”
Northam followed with a recount of Virginia’s checkered past. “Today we’re here to be honest about our past and talk about our future,” he said. “I’m no historian, but I strongly believe that we have to confront where we’ve been in order to shape where we’re going.”
Northam said that “Virginia is home to more Confederate commemorations than any other state,” and that these commemorations were only one of many acts Virginia legislators undertook to institutionalize racism and black oppression.
This year, Northam approved legislation that allows cities and counties to decide what to do with their monuments, leaving the issue in the hands of local boards and commissions. However, the Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue “sits on a 100-foot circle of land, a state-owned island surrounded by the city of Richmond," Northam said.
“We no longer preach a false version of history, one that pretends the Civil War was about states’ rights and not the evils of slavery. No one believes that any longer, and in 2020 we can no longer honor a system that was based on the buying and selling of enslaved people. Not in 2020.”
In response to questions of next steps for addressing police brutality and systemic racism in Virginia, Northam said it’s first about creating a dialogue, turning words into action, and continuing to diversify Virginia police forces, utilize body cameras and educate officers on de-escalation techniques.
“Today is an opportunity for us all to chart a new course, and it starts with removing these symbols, it starts with further addressing the monuments of inequity, and it starts with all of us together in a peaceful, in a civil way, making sure that this country, that this commonwealth of Virginia, is a place where we welcome people,” Northam said.
The announcement also featured remarks in support of the statue's removal from Robert E. Lee descendant the Rev. Robert W. Lee IV, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, Attorney General Mark Herring and Charlottesville-based student activist Zyahna Bryant.
Bryant, who circulated a petition in 2016 to remove Charlottesville’s Robert E. Lee statue, said that while Thursday’s announcement marks an important step, progress toward healing and racial equity will only be realized when long-standing systems of oppression are dismantled.
“Without a little bit of inconvenience, without a little bit of making people uncomfortable, we wouldn’t be here,” she said. “Today, I want to say it is no longer adequate to walk away from having the tough conversations. It is no longer okay to walk away from racist dialogue because you don’t want to cause controversy. Lives are on the line. Our future is on the line.”
