Richmond Mayor Removes Confederate Monuments Amid National Reckoning with Racist Past

The Democratic mayor of Richmond, Virginia, invoked his emergency powers to remove multiple Confederate monuments from the city, including a statue honoring Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. The move comes as a growing number of cities and states have removed statues and symbols honoring Confederate leaders amid a national conversation about America's racist past. Mayor Levar Stoney cited the "threat to public safety" some statues posed and the need to "turn the page" on a painful history. The decision was made on the same day a state law went into effect allowing localities to remove or alter Confederate monuments.

Key Takeaways:

• Mayor Levar Stoney invoked his emergency powers to remove multiple Confederate monuments from Richmond, including a statue of Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.
• The move comes as part of a national reckoning with America's racist past, with numerous cities and states removing statues and symbols honoring Confederate leaders.
• Stoney cited the "threat to public safety" posed by some of the city's statues, as protesters had attempted to bring them down in recent days.
• Richmond was at the center of a nationwide debate about removing Confederate monuments in 2017, after a killing and injury occurred in Charlottesville during a protest against the removal of a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee.
• Last month, protesters in Richmond toppled a monument of Jefferson Davis, the former president of the Confederacy, and attempted to pull down a statue of Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart.
• A statue of Christopher Columbus in Richmond was also recently torn down by protesters.
• The move by Stoney comes on the same day a state law went into effect allowing localities to remove or alter Confederate monuments in their communities.
• The city of Richmond sued last month to block the removal of a statue honoring Gen. Robert E. Lee, managed by Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, citing negative effects on the property values and loss of favorable tax treatment.

Statistics:

• More than 100 years have passed since the Jackson statue was erected in the city.
• The move by Mayor Stoney comes on the heels of Charlottesville's violent protests in 2017, where one person was killed and 19 others were injured.
• A number of other Confederate monuments have been removed in recent weeks across the country.

Sources:

• CNN
• Mayors' emergency powers
• State law altering Confederate monuments
• Richmond's city report
• Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam's statement