‘An incredible day’ as statues of Lee, Jackson are removed in Va.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Cheers erupted Saturday as a Confederate statue that towered for nearly a century over this city’s downtown was carted away by truck, having become a flashpoint for racist protests and deadly violence.
It was a day of palpable joy and immense relief for scores of residents and visitors who lined neighboring streets to watch the larger-than-life figure of Gen. Robert E. Lee as it was hoisted from its pedestal and taken — at least for now — to storage.
The statue’s removal came more than five years after racial justice activists had renewed a push to take down the monument, an initiative that drew the attention of white supremacists and other racist groups, culminating in the violent “Unite the Right” rally in 2017.
“I’m ecstatic that we’re here now. It’s sad that it’s taken so much to get us to this point. But this is an incredible day,” said Don Gathers, a local Black activist who long advocated for the removal.
Work to remove Lee’s statue, and one of Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson shortly after, proceeded peacefully and without interruption. It was a project held up for years by a long legal fight coupled with changes in a state law that protected war memorials.
Ralph Dixon, a 59-year-old Black man born and raised in Charlottesville, was documenting Saturday’s activities, a camera draped around his neck.
Dixon said he was brought as a schoolchild to the park where the Lee statue stood. “All the teachers, my teachers anyway, were always talking about what a great person this was,” he said.
He said his understanding of Lee’s legacy and the statue’s message evolved as he matured. He said it was important to understand that the statue was erected not directly after the Civil War but during the Jim Crow era, when Black Americans’ rights were being stripped away.
Especially after the violence of Aug. 12, 2017, which left 32-yearold Heather Heyer dead and dozens more injured after a car plowed into a crowd of peaceful counterprotesters, there was no reason it should stay, he said. A Virginia State Police helicopter assisting with the rally also crashed that weekend, killing the pilot and a trooper.
“Unite the Right” drew neo-Nazis, skinheads, Ku Klux Klansmen and other racist groups for what was the largest gathering of such far-right extremists in at least a decade.
They met at the base of the Lee statue and then brawled in the streets nearby with anti-racist counterprotesters before the car attack. The violence sparked a national debate over racial equity, further inflamed by former President Donald Trump’s insistence that there was “blame on both sides.”
The most recent push focused on removing the monument began in 2016, thanks partly to a petition started by a Black high school student, Zyahna Bryant. After the City Council voted to remove the statue, a lawsuit was quickly filed, putting the plans on hold. White supremacists then began to seize on the issue.
“To the young people out there, I hope that this empowers you to speak up on the issues that matter, and to take charge in your own cities and communities,” Bryant said, standing beside Mayor Nikuyah Walker while addressing the crowd before removal work began. “No platform for white supremacy. No platform for racism. And no platform for hate.”
On Saturday, there were at least a handful of opponents of the removal present, including a man who heckled Walker after she spoke. But there was no presence of visible, organized protest. Many who object to taking down Confederate monuments say doing so amounts to erasing history.
Also removed Saturday was a statue depicting Sacagawea and explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark that has been criticized for a depiction of the Native American guide and interpreter that some view as subservient and weak.