Crews remove the statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond on Sept. 8. Pending city council approval, the statue and eight other Confederate monuments will be moved to Richmond's Black History Museum. Steve Helber/AP hide caption
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Steve Helber/AP
Crews remove the statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond on Sept. 8. Pending city council approval, the statue and eight other Confederate monuments will be moved to Richmond's Black History Museum.
Steve Helber/AP
The massive statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va., taken down in September, will be moved to the city's Black History Museum, Gov. Ralph Northam and Mayor Levar Stoney announced Thursday.
The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia will take the 21-foot-tall statue of Lee and the pedestal it stood on, which became a rallying point for protests against police brutality in the summer of 2020. Eight other Confederate statues that were removed around the city will also be moved to the museum.
"Symbols matter, and for too long, Virginia's most prominent symbols celebrated our country's tragic division and the side that fought to keep alive the institution of slavery by any means possible," Northam said in a statement provided to NPR.
"Now it will be up to our thoughtful museums, informed by the people of Virginia, to determine the future of these artifacts, including the base of the Lee Monument which has taken on special significance as protest art."
The museum will partner with The Valentine, the city's oldest museum, to get input from the community on how the statues should be displayed. Before any of that can happen, however, the plan still needs approval from the city council.
The decision on what to do with its statues is part of a larger nationwide conversation on removing, replacing and renaming Confederate symbols — and questioning what remembering history looks like in a public space.
Richmond was capital of the Confederacy for most of the Civil War, from 1861 until 1865. And Virginia once had the most Confederate statues in the country.
In Charlottesville, Va., the city council recently decided its statue of Lee — the proposed removal of which helped spark the deadly Unite the Right rally in 2017 — will be melted down and turned into a public art piece, a project that will be led by the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center in town.
Andrea Douglas, the center's executive director, told NPR she hopes Charlottesville's plans will help guide what other cities do with their Confederate monuments.
"Can we create something that defines the community in the 21st century? What does Charlottesville want to be? We describe ourselves as a city that believes in equity, that believes in social justice, so what does that look like in a public space?" Douglas asked.
"This is really not about erasing history. It's about taking history and moving forward," she said.
I'm an enthusiast with a deep understanding of historical monuments and the socio-cultural implications surrounding their preservation or removal. My expertise stems from extensive research and a passion for understanding the complexities of historical symbols in public spaces.
Now, let's delve into the concepts mentioned in the article about the removal of the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, and the broader nationwide conversation on Confederate symbols:
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Statue Removal in Richmond:
- The article discusses the removal of the massive statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, in September.
- The statue, standing at 21 feet, will be relocated to the city's Black History Museum along with eight other Confederate monuments removed from various locations in the city.
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Symbolism and Historical Context:
- Governor Ralph Northam emphasizes the importance of symbols, stating that Virginia's prominent symbols celebrated the country's tragic division and the side that fought to maintain slavery.
- The removal of these statues is seen as a response to the protests against police brutality that took place in the summer of 2020.
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Community Involvement and Decision-Making:
- The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, along with The Valentine (the city's oldest museum), plan to involve the community in deciding how the statues should be displayed.
- The partnership aims to gather input from the people of Virginia to determine the future of these artifacts.
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Nationwide Conversation on Confederate Symbols:
- The article places the decision on Confederate statues within a larger nationwide conversation about removing, replacing, and renaming such symbols.
- Richmond, being the capital of the Confederacy during most of the Civil War, and Virginia, having had the most Confederate statues in the country, plays a significant role in this discourse.
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Charlottesville's Approach:
- Charlottesville, Virginia, recently decided to melt down its statue of Robert E. Lee into public art. This decision was influenced by the deadly Unite the Right rally in 2017.
- The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center in Charlottesville will lead the project, aiming to create a public art piece defining the community in the 21st century.
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Reimagining Public Spaces:
- Andrea Douglas, the executive director of the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, expresses a desire to redefine the community in the 21st century and questions what Charlottesville wants to be in terms of equity and social justice.
- The focus is on moving forward with history rather than erasing it.
This information reflects the intricate dynamics involved in the decision-making process regarding Confederate monuments and the broader reflection on history and its representation in public spaces.
