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Democrat Majority Could Bring Monumental Change to Confederate Symbols

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Under the Dillon Rule, all decisions made by Virginia localities must be authorized by the General Assembly. Thus far, the GA has not allowed Richmond and other VA cities to remove Confederate monuments. But a new Democratic majority may change all that in 2020.

Virginia has 110 Confederate monuments, many of which are housed in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy. Among the most notable are the five towering monuments of Confederate leaders lining Monument Avenue. Others live in neighborhoods across the city from Church Hill to Bellevue.

The city is home to significant Civil War buildings, including the American Civil War Museum and White House of the Confederacy. Street names such as Confederate Avenue inhabit the Northside, while Jefferson Davis Highway, named for the president of the Confederacy, runs along the city and throughout the state. Schools such as John B. Cary Elementary — named after a Confederate soldier who later served as his district’s superintendent — and George Mason Elementary — named after a slave-owning Founding Father — still exist, even though concern for renaming the schools has been articulated. 

In recent years, residents have been pushing for the Monument Avenue monuments to come down. But the statues, which represent the dark and violent history of slavery for some Virginians and their families, stand tall, staring down the median of a prominent and busy avenue. This is in part because the power to remove the monuments has been denied to localities under the Dillon Rule, which allows the state to limit the powers of local governments. However, a new Democratic majority in Virginia’s state legislature may open the door to more local government control — and perhaps the removal of the monuments.

The Dillon Rule is derived from the 1868 written decision by Judge John Dillon of Iowa. Dillon identified local governments as political subdivisions of the state government. According to the American Legislative Exchange Council, 39 states apply the Dillon Rule to some capacity. Thirty-one apply it to all localities, while eight use the rule for only certain municipalities. The Virginia Supreme Court adopted the Dillon Rule in 1896.

James Ewell Brown (J. E. B.) Stuart was commander of the Cavalry Corps of Lee’s army during the Civil War. Photo by Susan Shibut, Capital News Service

Because Virginia law states that localities cannot remove war monuments after they have been established, the Dillon Rule has prevented localities such as Richmond and Charlottesville from passing measures to remove their Confederate monuments.

When the General Assembly resumes session in January, a Democratic majority would make it easier for legislators to make a new law stating that local governments have the power to remove Confederate monuments, or a law that bans them outright. John Aughenbaugh, assistant professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, said a new law is a way he could see localities gain the power to make their own decisions about the monuments.

“I don’t think many members of the General Assembly want to get blamed for upsetting those who still like the monuments,” Aughenbaugh said. “But they’ll be willing to go ahead and give the local governments the authority to make that decision on their own.”

Jim Nolan, press secretary for Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, said that increasing local authority has been a legislative priority for the mayor and will remain one heading into the 2020 General Assembly session. He said the mayor believes the General Assembly should grant authority to allow localities to determine the future of Confederate monuments. 

“Cities should have the right to choose if they want to contextualize or permanently remove monuments,” Nolan said.

In recent years, the Richmond City Council voted against two resolutions brought by Councilman Michael Jones requesting that state lawmakers give the city authority on what to do with the monuments. The resolutions would have put pressure on lawmakers to give the city authority. However, the General Assembly is not the only avenue for localities to gain the power to remove their monuments. Aughenbaugh said he predicts a locality will sue for the right to remove their monuments and the Virginia Supreme Court will be the deciding body. 

Jefferson Davis’ is the only monument that the Monument Avenue Commission recommended be torn down completely. Davis was the president of the Confederacy, and his monument is the most explicit in its veneration of the “Lost Cause,” the idea that the Confederate cause was just, heroic and ethical. Photo by Susan Shibut, Capital News Service.

One city has already brought such a suit. Earlier this year, Norfolk filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Virginia, arguing that requiring the city to keep a Confederate monument was contrary to their freedom of speech. The suit has not been decided yet.

More than 1,800 Confederate symbols stand in 22 states as of February, according to a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Virginia, with 262 Confederate symbols, has more than any other state and has removed 17 of its symbols since the racially-charged Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting in which nine African-Americans were murdered, the organization said.

For decades, Richmond has sought to offset Confederate symbols. In 1996, a sixth statue was added to Monument Avenue depicting Arthur Ashe, an African American tennis champion from Richmond. Earlier this year the Richmond City Council voted to rename the Boulevard to Arthur Ashe Boulevard. J.E.B. Stuart Elementary School was renamed Barack Obama Elementary after a 6-1 vote by the Richmond Public School Board in 2018. In December, Richmond’s Virginia Museum of Fine Arts unveiled, in front of a welcoming crowd, Kehinde Wiley’s statue “Rumors of War,” which depicts a black man in classic equestrian portraiture — a response to the monuments on Monument Avenue.

Virginia has been center stage in the national debate regarding the potential removal of Confederate monuments. In August 2017, the nation was rocked with news of violent clashes in Charlottesville. A “Unite the Right” rally and counter-demonstration were the climax of a months-long battle over the fate of a Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee statue that the Charlottesville City Council voted to remove. At the protest, James Alex Fields Jr., a white supremacist who traveled from Ohio to the event, drove his car into a crowd, killing counter-protester Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others. The night before the protest, participants gathered in the park with tiki torches and chanted slogans including the Nazi-associated phrase “blood and soil.”

After the Charleston, South Carolina, church shooting, Stoney created the Monument Avenue Commission in 2017 in hopes of creating new ways to remember Richmond’s history while addressing the past memorialized on Monument Avenue. Its first meeting took place days before Heyer died counter-protesting in Charlottesville.

“Richmond has a long, complex and conflicted history, and the Confederate statues on Monument Avenue represents a shameful part of our past,” Stoney said in the commission’s 117-page report. “The majority of the public acknowledges Monument Avenue cannot and should not remain exactly as it is. Change is needed and desired.” 

J. Hunter Dabney walks past the Robert E. Lee Monument. Robert E. Lee was a Confederate general. His monument was unveiled in 1890 and was the the first of the monuments to go up. Photo by Susan Shibut, Capital News Service.

After 11 months of public deliberation, the commission suggested solutions, which included:

  •  Moving the monuments to a museum and creating a permanent exhibit, including a deeper historical look into the history of the monuments by creating a mobile app and a film that ensures historical accuracy.
  • Adding permanent signage that reflects the historic, biographical, artistic, and changing meaning over time for each monument.
  • Erecting a monument that pays homage to the resilience of the formerly enslaved.
  • Having local artists create contemporary pieces that bring new meaning to Monument Avenue.
  • Removing the Jefferson Davis statue.

The city cannot implement these suggestions, however, if state law overrides local laws. 

House Bill 2377 was introduced by former Del. David Toscano, D-Charlottesville, in the 2019 General Assembly session. It would have given localities the power to remove or add context to their monuments, but it did not pass the then-Republican majority House.

For those who oppose the monuments, hope is on the rise. Democrats hold both chambers of the General Assembly as well as the governorship after the Nov. 5 elections — a power that has not been seen in over 20 years. Several of the newly elected legislators have spoken out against the monuments, including Democratic Sen.-elect Ghazala Hashmi, Democratic Del.-elect Sally Husdon, and Del. Jay Jones, D-Norfolk. Hudson plans to introduce legislation very similar to Toscano’s bill — Jones said he will co-sponsor the legislation.

In November, Jones tweeted: “The ‘monuments’ are nothing more than vestigial symbols of oppression and hate that need to come down – ESPECIALLY if it is the locality’s choice. We’re moving VA into the 21st century rather than ‘honoring’ the failures of the 19th.”

In 1895 the city purchased a lot at the intersection of Broad Street, Adams Street, and Brook Road for the J.E.B. Stuart monument. The location, at the terminus of Brook Turnpike, was where Stuart was shot and killed. That site became home to a statue of African-American businesswoman Maggie L. Walker in 2017. Photo by Susan Shibut, Capital News Service

This was not the first time Jones touched on this subject. During Black History month in February, following Gov. Ralph Northam’s blackface scandal, Jones stood in front of the House of Delegates and made a personal speech. 

Jones talked about “two Virginias,” a white one and a black one, and how they have existed “in parallel along the same arc of history, frequently intersecting, but never running together as one. Two different experiences, born from the same beginning four hundred years ago and still never merged into one shared story.” 

According to Jones, “glorification of the Confederacy via monuments and flags in public spaces,” are examples of how white Virginians “consciously or unconsciously attempted to demonstrate its power over black Virginians.”

In describing the racially-charged differences between Virginians, Jones said, “It seems that we have not come far enough to understand the hurt and pain and the effect on those who grew up in the shadow of separate but not equal. Thirty years on, throughout the duration of my life, we are still struggling mightily with race in our state.”

If localities are given the authority to legislate the fate of their monuments, Nolan said Stoney and his administration will ask the city’s History and Culture Commission to make recommendations and commit to following a process in accordance to solutions provided by the Monument Avenue Commission.

Written by McKenzie Lambert and Susan Shibut, Capital News Service. Top Photo: Monument Avenue has five Confederate monuments and one statue of Richmond-native tennis champion Arthur Ashe on its median. Photo by Susan Shibut, Capital News Service.

“Rumors Of War” Arrives In Richmond

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The statue by artist Kehinde Wiley was unveiled yesterday in its permanent home at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Kehinde Wiley unveiled his “Rumors of War” statue on the lawn of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Tuesday afternoon. The statue, which depicts a young black man in streetwear riding a horse, was first unveiled in New York City’s Times Square in September.

Wiley was inspired to create the statue after visiting Richmond years ago and seeing the Confederate monuments around the city. It is modeled after the J.E.B. Stuart monument that stands at the intersection of Monument Ave. and Lombardy St. in Richmond. It is 27 feet tall — one foot taller than the Stuart statue. “Rumors of War” will now be a permanent fixture on the lawn of the VMFA, just blocks from the Confederate statues that dominate Monument Avenue. 

A massive crowd was on hand to view the unveiling. Governor Ralph Northam, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, and Wiley all spoke prior to the statue being revealed. At the moment of its removal, a tarp concealing the 29-foot statue became stuck on the figure’s hair, but a Richmond firefighter was able to remove the tarp, revealing the full statue.

RVA Magazine was on hand to view the event — here are some images of what took place:

Lots of Richmonders came out to see the statue’s unveiling. (Photo by Jimmy O’Keefe)
Hundreds of people came out for their first chance to see “Rumors Of War” in its new home. (Photo by Jimmy O’Keefe)
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney addresses the crowd. (Photo by Jimmy O’Keefe)
Governor Ralph Northam speaks. (Photo by Jimmy O’Keefe)
Artist Kehinde Wiley introduces his creation. (Photo by Jimmy O’Keefe)
The time for the unveiling has arrived. (Photo by Jimmy O’Keefe)
At the last moment, the tarp snags on the figure’s hair. (Photo by Jimmy O’Keefe)
Finally, after assistance from a firefighter whose ladder you can see in this shot, “Rumors Of War” was unveiled. (Photo by Jimmy O’Keefe)
Thrilled onlookers captured the moment on their cellphones. (Photo by Jimmy O’Keefe)

Top Photo by Jimmy O’Keefe. Additional reporting by Marilyn Drew Necci.

Op-Ed: Virginia Plans To Honor Slaveholders & Confederate On New Women’s Monument

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By planning the inclusion of slaveholders and Confederates in the Women’s Monument, Chelsea Higgs Wise states that Virginia is undermining what should be a triumph of inclusion.

It’s the 400th year since the first Africans were trafficked to the shores of Virginia, yet an unspoken power shift is quickly shaping our Commonwealth in the name of maintaining white supremacy. The 12 statues selected for the Women’s Monument are the latest examples of the way white women are tipping the scales of influence here in Virginia, just as they did in the 2016 election. If we are not careful, the work of the Daughters of the Confederacy will continue to sprout through their living descendants, to ensure that the Lost Cause narrative will be represented in both its masculine and now feminine form.

American Evolution is the leading platform holding the 400th narrative. They planned one last Hail Mary to engage the Black community, specifically Black women, by inviting Queen Latifah to Virginia. Having the Queen host the Women’s Summit, just one day after the ceremony for the Women’s Monument, is perfect timing for a system aiming to drown out the voices of resistance to adding more Confederate symbols. The Women’s Monument will be the 224th item in the state honoring the Confederacy, keeping Virginia at the top of the list for the most Confederate symbols in the nation.

Sandwiching egregious acts, such as planning these monuments between temporary celebrations of our current celebrities, seems on-brand for a state that declared 2019 the year of reconciliation and civility. As Virginia discussed our role in the exploitation of Black bodies over the last 400 years in order to form a more perfect union, establishing a standard of civility was critical for the continuation of respectability politics.

Honoring the House of Burgesses’ accomplishments in 1619, while attempting to not blame that same House of Burgesses for our current system of inequalities, has been the impossible balancing act for American Evolution. While creating the first legislative assembly in the United States 400 years ago, the men of Jamestown also constructed a system that depended on enslaving Africans for a thriving economy. 

In Virginia, we are in the practice of avoiding the dynamics historically defined by race, while also ignoring the current hierarchy that enables the continuation of racial oppression. 

As a result of failing to authentically integrate these stories, most Virginians have been barely involved in any events or conversations, and are loosely interested in the 400th anniversary conversation unless it came from the New York Times. American Evolution’s complacency in low engagement has allowed for decision-makers to organize large shiny events, checking off their commitment to democracy and diversity while avoiding the kind of uncomfortable and historic moments for change the Women’s Monument presents.

The performative efforts of platforms run by white leadership, like American Evolution, are not aimed at transforming the social hierarchy, nor at modeling equity within power structures. It appears that these marketing agencies are reconstructing what is supposed to be a new political narrative, but with the same broken pieces. Adding context to 100-year-old statues on Monument Avenue should not be given the same consideration as Virginia building new monuments to slaveholders in the name of gender equality.

The cherry on top is when Virginia sends a strongly worded recommendation, in the form of a resolution, that we should all react with southern civility while deliberating the last 400 years. The muzzle effect is activated among the progressive leadership, as these micro-aggressive symbols grow into a permanent symbol of macro-aggression on the lawn of our state Capitol.

The Women’s Monument Commission officially started meeting in 2011 . While there was much discussion of the development of the structure and the fundraising, little was noted about the discussion of the women chosen, and the potential narrative conflicts. The Women’s Monument Commission met four times immediately after the deadly attack on Charlottesville in 2017: September 14, October 3, October 10, and October 24 of that year (which was the last of the posted meeting minutes of the commission). There is no mention of any community consideration that would contextualize the time we as a commonwealth were — and still are — experiencing, regarding the trauma of Confederate symbolism.

Though a researcher named Crystal Rayle is helping us to move forward as an informed community, she provided us with the backgrounds of three women we should re-evaluate and pivot from, before the last statues of the Women’s Monument are built. She compiled documents for Clementina Rind, Martha Washington, and Sally Louisa Tompkins regarding their ownership of slaves, views towards slavery, treatment of the enslaved, and/or support of the Confederacy that should be considered as we examine whether these women should be disqualified, not from history, but from our Capitol lawn.

The Women’s Monument includes indigenous women and multiple African American women, giving many Virginians permission to grant this monument tolerance.

Our heroes shouldn’t share spaces of honor with their oppressors.

Just as many women of color are forced to stand in rooms today where their voices aren’t heard, their bodies are violated, and their narratives are twisted, so are our women heroes being forced to share their legacy with Clementina Rind, Martha Washington, and Sally Louisa Tompkins.

It shouldn’t be surprising that this week in Virginia hypocrisy, we are asking Queen Latifah, a Harvard WEB Dubois Medal Winner, to host the same platform that is honoring new statues to the confederacy. The artist of the forever classic “U.N.I.T.Y.” probably didn’t imagine progress looking like monuments to women who led the erasure of Black women. Our deletion in history books, as well as at the current-day ballot, cannot be cemented on the Virginia Capitol grounds again, 400 years later. Forcing our women heroes to share space with those who participated in our enslavement is not the definition of inclusion, it is an example of paternalism. But, it’s also the Virginia Way.

With just a few weeks left in the 400th year, we can only hope that Virginia gets out of its own way, and on the right side of history. Otherwise, Kehinde Wiley could create another piece to disrupt monuments to white supremacy here in Richmond, Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy.

Note: Op-Eds are contributions from guest writers and do not reflect RVA Magazine editorial policy.

Photo by Michaele White

Kehinde Wiley Sculpture Unveiled in NYC, Comes to VMFA in December

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The statue, entitled “Rumors Of War,” is African American artist Kehinde Wiley’s response to the Confederate monuments in Richmond and throughout the South.

Artist Kehinde Wiley’s monumental statue, “Rumors of War,” was unveiled in Times Square on Friday to an estimated 350 attendees. The statue is Wiley’s response to the Confederate sculptures scattered throughout the South, especially in Richmond, Virginia.

“This is his first attempt at a monumental sculpture, and I’d have to say he pretty much hit it out of the park,” Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Director Alex Nyerges said.

The statue before its unveiling. (Photo by VCU CNS)

The statue depicts a young African American man wearing street clothes atop a rearing horse. The body language of the subject is triumphant and confident. “Rumors of War” is closely modeled after the statue of Confederate general J.E.B. Stuart found in the center of Stuart Circle along Monument Avenue in Richmond.

According to Sean Kelly Gallery founder Sean Kelly, “Rumors of War” is 27 feet tall — one foot taller than the statue of Stuart. The New York-based art gallery represents Wiley and other established artists. It co-sponsored the unveiling along with the VMFA and the Times Square Alliance.

Wiley has become known for paintings depicting African American men and women shown in classical poses. His paintings are inspired by masters from the Renaissance and Rococo eras of art, but with a contemporary and political twist. In 2018 he unveiled the official portrait of President Barack Obama in the Smithsonian National Gallery, garnering worldwide attention.

Media and guests at the unveiling began gathering at 12:30 p.m. in one of the main medians of Times Square. The statue loomed large, draped in a silver cloth. People on their lunch break and other onlookers sat outside a fence surrounding the area, many stopping to ask what was going on. 

 A temporary security fence formed a roughly 500-square-foot border around the statue. 

Kehinde Wiley speaks about “Rumors Of War.” (Photo by VCU CNS)

After comments from Nyerges, Kelly, and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, Wiley stepped up to the podium to deliver a short but passionate explanation behind the process of creating “Rumors of War.” 

“Let’s get this party started,” Wiley declared, and the cloth was pulled back revealing the statue to the audience.

The base of the statue was crafted from Wisconsin limestone in Wiley’s New York studio, Kelly said. The bronze used to build the statue was cast in Wiley’s Beijing studio, then shipped in three separate pieces to New York and reassembled.

Wiley came up with the idea to create the statue during the 2016 showing of a retrospective of his work at the VMFA. Nyerges said Wiley approached the museum about collaborating on the project.

“When they approached us the question was, ‘Would you be interested in working with us on a project like this,’ and of course the answer was an instant ‘yes,’” Nyerges said. “Then when Kehinde and Sean came back to us with some visuals and a conceptual of what it looked like, we were blown away.”

The statue has been under construction for almost three years. Kelly said he feels overjoyed to have Wiley’s newest work completed and released.

“The beginning of the journey is absolutely terrifying if you think about what you’re getting yourself into,” Kelly said. “Unveiling it today is like giving birth; it’s super exciting and amazing. There’s nothing but euphoria and joy at this point.”

“Rumors of War” in Times Square (Photo by VCU CNS)

Stoney addressed how “Rumors of War” will fit into the ongoing conversation about the monuments on Monument Avenue. Five other statues honoring Confederates, and one statue in tribute to tennis legend Arthur Ashe, are erected along a 1.5-mile stretch of the city street. In recent years there has been considerable debate about whether to remove the monuments. The mayor established a commission to study and make recommendations on the removal or relocation of the monuments. The panel’s final report called for removal of the Jefferson Davis statue, and the addition of context to the others. 

“Our friends who worked on the Monument Avenue Commission stated that addition has to be part of the recipe for us balancing the scales in Richmond, in terms of the monuments we currently have to the Lost Cause, [the narrative that the Confederacy was justified in its rebellion, minimizing the role slavery played in causing the Civil War], and balancing that with heroes and sheroes from African American culture,” Stoney said.

The statue will be on temporary public display until Dec. 1 and then moved to its permanent home at the VMFA in Richmond. The public can see the statue unveiled for a second time Dec. 10 on the museum’s front lawn along Arthur Ashe Boulevard.

Written by Morgan Edwards, Capital News Service. Top Photo: “Rumors Of War” in Times Square, via VCU CNS

Landrieu Urges Reflection On Monuments In Meeting With Stoney

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In his meeting with Mayor Levar Stoney this week, former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu challenged Richmonders to consider the continued impact of Confederate monuments on our city’s image and reputation.

It was a meeting of the Mayoral minds on Tuesday, as Richmond’s Mayor Levar Stoney and New Orleans’ former mayor Mitch Landrieu engaged in thoughtful discussion at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture.

About 100 people listened as Mayor Stoney recounted Richmond’s struggle with Confederate iconography and race relations in Richmond, while Landrieu recalled his experience presiding over the removal of his city’s Confederate monuments.

“We created things with regard to race, and we can’t fix things without regard to race,” Landrieu said. “Our public spaces speak to who you are. It’s intended to say something, especially monuments and statues.”

At the crux of this discussion, Landrieu asked of Richmond: What do we want to be known for?

Overhead view of New Orleans’ Battle Of Liberty Place Monument in 2006. The monument was erected in 1891 to commemorate an 1874 riot against New Orleans’ Reconstruction-era government by the White League, a white supremacist group. It was taken down by Landrieu’s administration in 2017. Photo by Infrogmation, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia

In 2015, Landrieu called for the removal from prominent public display of four monuments in New Orleans, three of Confederate generals and one memorializing a violent coup of the state government by the Crescent City White League. All the monuments in question were removed by May 2017, although not without two years of legal battles, public criticism, and even threats against Landrieu’s life. His opponents criticized him for a lack of transparency during the process.

In a discussion moderated by Julian Hayter, an associate professor of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond and member of Stoney’s Monument Avenue Commission, Stoney and Landrieu discussed racism in the South, and how to reconcile its history with its people.

“We can’t ignore the fact that we’ve had an ugly history,” Stoney said.

Last year, Stoney’s Monument Avenue Commission recommended removing the Jefferson Davis monument, while adding context to the other four Confederate statues.

Jefferson Davis monument on Monument Avenue. Public Domain, via Wikimedia

Landrieu’s charismatic, animated oration offered blunt, third-party observations about Richmond’s race relations and Confederate iconography. Ultimately, he posited Richmond must find a solution that is right for Richmond, regardless of any other city’s actions.

“There is a difference between remembrance and reverence,” Landrieu said. “Remembrance is what you always want to do, so you don’t let it happen again. Reverence is honoring something, so you might be able to do it again.”

Stoney stated that if it were in his legal power to remove them, the statues would be gone. He also said that while removing the statues were important to many Richmonders, his real concern was providing reparations to deprived communities negatively affected by past racial injustices.

In this context, reparations are not about putting cash directly in the hands of disenfranchised people; they are about funding schools that never get funded, putting money in parks and community spaces, and reforming previously exclusive places into safe, inclusive space. They are about allowing a city’s architecture, aesthetic, art, and monuments to reflect the citizens it houses.

“Does that man standing on top of that thing send a message that you are welcome here, and that we want you to be here?” Landrieu said. “I was the mayor of a majority African American city, and I was the mayor of a city that has a monument that doesn’t represent our city. We decided in our specific circumstance, it was the best thing to do. What you cannot do is forget who put it up and why they put it up.”

Landrieu urged Richmonders to consider that a single plaque is not contextualization. To provide an adequate frame of reference would require the statue of a “lynched man” to reside next to Jackson and Lee.

Hayter, Stoney, and Landrieu. Photo by John Donegan

It may be prudent to point out that by erecting those statues, we are actually disobeying the wishes of a dead man, one who is at the epicenter of this entire debate: Robert E. Lee.

“I think it wiser,” the retired Lee once wrote of a proposed Gettysburg memorial in 1869, “not to keep open the sores of war but to follow the examples of those nations who endeavored to obliterate the marks of civil strife, to commit to oblivion the feelings engendered.”

After the Civil War, Lee swore allegiance to the Union, publicly denounced any sentiment toward Southern separatism, affirmed the need to move on, and believed that by keeping those images alive, so would the sentiments of division live on and thrive.

Mayor Landrieu asserted similar sentiments in asking us to question that reverence associated with Confederate iconography. We have an entire avenue on which we all but worship the leaders of a failed nation, then act as if this is a presentation of historical events rather than a deep respect and longing for that failed nation.

“People are watching y’all,” Landrieu said. “I want to ask, do y’all want to be known for that?”

America has a history of building grandiose, reverent monuments to what Lee described as “civil strife,” and compared to those left by other countries throughout the 20th century after their own national conflicts, it calls us to examine how Americans display memorials to bloodshed.

The American cemetery at Normandy. Photo by Leon Petrosyan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia

Our memorial to the lives lost in the 9/11 attacks has turned into a multibillion dollar shopping mall, the Westfield World Trade Center. The American cemetery in Normandy, France, honoring those soldiers lost to WWII, boasts a $30 million welcome center, a chapel, and a 22-foot statue. Compared to the somber, understated French, German, and Canadian cemeteries in the same area, America’s message is clear: We are dominant, we are proud, we are strong, we are to be seen.

And while direct, this isn’t entirely inappropriate. Our culture differs from European countries in that we are opportunistic, and have a free-market capitalist economy. We honor our tragedies, but we simultaneously find a way to make money from them. We are clever, competitive, and fierce. Albeit occasionally sporting a tone-deaf quality, it is true to our nature. For better or worse, it is what we are known for. And, ultimately, even the aforementioned monuments honor soldiers and innocent lives lost to tragedy and terror, rather than the lost cause for continued human oppression that the figures on Monument Avenue commemorate.

And so, Mayor Landrieu’s challenge to Richmond resonates. In the wake of his visit, we must ask ourselves the same question he asked of us: What do you want to be known for? And how will you display it?

Top photo by John Donegan

Students at UNC Topple Confederate Statue

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Students at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill toppled the Confederate monument known as “Silent Sam” on Monday night. According to WRAL, nearly 200 student protestors assembled at the Peace and Justice Plaza at around 7 p.m. to call for removal of the statue. A short time later they marched to the statue, and by 9:30 p.m. it lay on the ground, toppled, while the crowd of students erupted in a raucous applause.

Silent Sam, Toppled. Photo by Samee Siddiqui

The university’s administration, however, was not amused. UNC Chancellor Carol Folt released a statement at 1:48 a.m. acknowledging that the Confederate monument was “divisive” and a “source of frustration” for many years, but calling the protesters’ actions “unlawful and dangerous.”

“Silent Sam” has stood on the campus since it was erected in 1913, and has been a flashpoint for students and faculty for many years. The official Department of History webpage even published a statement asking the university to remove the statue, saying, “The faculty of the Department of History urges the officers of UNC and other state officials to pursue every avenue to remove the ‘Silent Sam’ monument…[the creators] shared a veneration of slavery, the “Old South,” the Confederacy, and the ideology of white supremacy.”

Monday’s protest began as a march for solidarity with Maya Little, a graduate student who was arrested this past spring after defacing the statue. In addition to criminal charges, Little also faces an honor court that could lead to her being expelled from the university.

Governor Roy Cooper also issued a statement on Monday on Facebook saying, “The Governor understands that many people are frustrated by the pace of change and he shares their frustration, but violent destruction of public property has no place in our communities.”

Sources at the rally claimed the student protestors flanked the statue with huge banners, shielding it from view. During that time a rope was apparently attached to its base, which was used to pull it down. A WRAL reporter said she spied the rope before hearing a crack as the statue came down. Protestors then started shoveling dirt on the statue and kicking it before police made a cordon around the toppled monument. One person was arrested and charged for “concealing their identity during a public rally.”

This comes at a time when cities and institutions throughout the south are grappling with what role statues and symbols glorifying the Confederacy and spreading the Lost Cause myth should have in public spaces.

Photo by Daily Tar Heel