Black contRactoR bRaves thReats in Removing Richmond statues
RICHMOND, VA. » Devon Henry paced in nervous anticipation, because this was a project like nothing he’d ever done. He wore the usual hard hat — and a bulletproof vest.
An accomplished Black businessman, Henry took on a job the city says others were unwilling to do: lead contractor for the nowcompleted removal of 14 pieces of Confederate statuary that dotted Virginia’s capital city. There was angry opposition, and fear for the safety of all involved.
But when a crane finally plucked the equestrian statue of Gen. Stonewall Jackson off the enormous pedestal where it had towered over this former capital of the Confederacy for more than a century, church bells chimed, thunder clapped and the crowd erupted in cheers.
Henry’s brother grabbed him, and they jumped up and down. He saw others crying in the pouring rain.
“You did it, man,” said Rodney Henry.
Success came at some cost. Devon Henry faced death threats, questions about the prices he charged, allegations of cronyism over past political donations to the city’s mayor and an inquiry by a special prosecutor. But he has no regrets.
“I feel a great deal of conviction in what we did and how it was done,” Henry, 43, told The Associated Press in the only interview he has given.
As recently as a few years ago, the removal of Richmond’s collection of Confederate monuments seemed nearly impossible, even as other tributes to rebel leaders around the U. S. started falling.
The tide turned after the death of George Floyd in police custody, which ignited a wave of Confederate monument removals. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and the City Council committed to removing the statues, something the Democrat- led General Assembly had authorized earlier in the year.