More Will Bite the Dust

jgoodguy

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June 2, 2020 photo of protesters around the Lee statue in Richmond. AP Photo by Steve Helber


Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, according to this article, ” is expected to announce plans Thursday to remove one of the country’s most iconic monuments to the Confederacy, a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee along Richmond’s prominent Monument Avenue, a senior administration official told The Associated Press.” Norfolk Delegate Jay Jones said, “That is a symbol for so many people, black and otherwise, of a time gone by of hate and oppression and being made to feel less than.” According to the article, “The Democratic governor will direct the statue to be moved off its massive pedestal and put into storage while his administration seeks input on a new location, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak before the governor’s announcement.” We should find out when the administration plans to move the monument when Governor Northam makes his announcement.

In other news out of Richmond, we have this article about Mayor Levar Stoney’s plans to move the four other confederate monuments along that avenue as well. Mayor Stoney said, “I appreciate the recommendations of the Monument Avenue Commission — those were the appropriate recommendations at the time, but times have changed, and removing these statues will allow the healing process to begin for so many Black Richmonders and Virginians. Richmond is no longer the Capital of the Confederacy — it is filled with diversity and love for all — and we need to demonstrate that.” According to the article, “Removing the four locally controlled statues will require approval from the Richmond City Council. Stoney’s ordinance said he and Councilman Michael Jones, a leading critic of the statues locally, will bring forward an ordinance to do that July 1. A law set to take effect that day empowers local governments to take down Confederate monuments. Five stand on Monument Avenue. They depict Confederate Gens. Lee, J.E.B. Stuart and Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson; Confederate naval commander Matthew Fontaine Maury; and Confederate President Jefferson Davis. State law requires localities to publish notice of their intent in a newspaper and hold a public hearing. It also permits localities to hold a nonbinding referendum regarding the monuments. If the City Council votes to remove, relocate, contextualize, or cover the monuments, it must have a 30-day waiting period in which it offers to relocate the memorials to any museum, historical society or military battlefield, among others. Richmond’s council twice voted against requesting control of the statues from the state. It changed course earlier this year, after Democrats took control of the Virginia General Assembly. Several council members said at the time they wanted to follow guidance from the city’s Monument Avenue Commission. The panel recommended removing the Davis monument and various ways to ‘contextualize’ the others. While some on the council have signaled they are open to altering the statues, removal is a different question.”

In other news, we have this op-ed from Mississippi. It comes from Michael Farris Smith, a novelist and native Mississippian. Mr. Smith writes, “The state flag of Mississippi needs to have the symbol of the Confederacy removed today. Not after a vote, not after three months of deliberation, not after a committee does a study. Today. It’s offensive, and it’s embarrassing, and it continues to make Mississippi look like it lives on the back end of civilization. Enough. We have one of the most diverse states in the nation, yet we fly the symbol of a 19th-century war that was fought over one person’s right and privilege to enslave another person of a different color. And to be reminded, we were on the wrong side of that argument. Black children should not have to walk into schools that fly the flag. Their parents should not have to pay taxes at the courthouse that flies this flag. No black Mississippian should ever have to raise their eyes to a flagpole in this state and see this symbol.” He also says, “If you love the Confederate flag, that’s your business. Make a coat out of it. Drape it over your house. Paint it across your chest. That’s your right, and if that’s what you want to say about yourself, then have at it. No one wants to take it from you. But the State of Mississippi has no right to continue to ask its radically diverse population to live beneath it. And that’s what it does: it pushes us down, it reminds us, it keeps a grip on the back of our neck and forces a divide. No change means we support it. I don’t support it. It offends me as a white boy. It bothers me to have to explain it to my children. It’s shameful for my friends of color to have to live under it. Can we not, for once, do what is right? Can we not make a change for the better? Give all Mississippians a flag. Give a big breath of relief across this state. Take a first step.” He concludes, “Yes, we can. It is fully in the power of our governor and legislators to change it. Today. We have to. If we don’t, we continue to enable those who are still fighting some long ago war for the right to own another person. If we don’t, we are nodding in approval at the disparities and divides. If we don’t, we are still the same ol’ Mississippi, no matter how hard so many of us, of every race, are trying to be better.”

We’re seeing new momentum for the removal of confederate iconography. It’s already difficult to keep up with all the changes, and it seems it will continue like this for awhile. I fully expect more monuments to either come down or move to less visible places. We may even see a change to the Mississippi state flag. As a nation, we should not be implying a treasonous rebellion that sought to protect and preserve slavery and white supremacy is deserving of any honor whatsoever.

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