San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Crowd applauds as divisive statue is at last removed
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was hoisted away from its place of prominence in Charlottesville on Saturday and carted off to storage, years after its threatened removal became a rallying point for white supremacists and inspired their violent 2017 rally that left a woman dead and dozens injured.
Work to haul away the statue began early Saturday. Crews also removed a statue of Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson.
Spectators by the dozens lined the blocks surrounding the park, and a cheer went up as the Lee statue lifted off the pedestal. There was a visible police presence, with streets blocked off to traffic by fencing and heavy trucks.
“Taking down this statue is one small step closer to the goal of helping Charlottesville, Virginia, and America, grapple with the sin of being willing to destroy Black people for economic gain,” said Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker.
The removal of the statues follows years of contention, community anguish and litigation. A long, winding legal fight coupled with changes in a state law that protected war memorials had held up the removal for years.
Saturday’s removal of the Lee and Jackson statues comes nearly four years after violence erupted at the infamous “Unite the Right” rally. Heather Heyer, a peaceful counterprotester, died in the violence, which sparked a national debate over racial equity, further inflamed by former President Donald Trump’s insistence that there was “blame on both sides.”
The work appeared to proceed smoothly as couples, families with children and activists looked on from surrounding blocks. The crowd intermittently chanted and cheered as the workers made progress and musicians played hymns from a nearby church.
There were at least a handful of opponents of the removal, including a man who heckled the mayor after her speech, but no visible, organized protester presence.
Ralph Dixon, a 59yearold Black man born and raised in Charlottesville, was documenting the removal work Saturday morning, a camera around his neck. Dixon said he was brought to the park where the Lee statue stood as a child.
“It needed to be done,” he said.
The statues will be stored in a secure location until the City Council makes a final decision about what should be done with them. Under state law, the city was required to solicit parties interested in taking the statues. It received 10 responses.