156 years after Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, a bronze statue of his likeness has finally been removed in Charlottesville.
The history-making moment occurred Saturday morning, July 10, and comes nearly four years after the violent events at a “Unite the Right” rally that happened in the city and left counter-protester Heather Heyer dead.
“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,” Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker said as a crane neared the monument.
In addition to General Lee, the statue of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson has also been removed. Both will remain on city property until officials determine what to do with them. There are at least 10 groups that are interested in procuring the statues.
Zyahna Bryant was only a high school student when she pushed to have the Lee monument removed in 2016. Her petition, albeit successful, caused white supremacists to quickly file a lawsuit which caused the city to put the removal plans on hold.
Robert E. Lee chose to wage war against America & helped kill 600K soldiers for his twisted vision of advancing slavery of Black people.
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) July 10, 2021
Today—156 years after his surrender—his statue has been removed from the Charlottesville public square
Good riddancepic.twitter.com/ZZHOxEvzZA
“This is well overdue,” said Bryant, now a student at the University of Virginia. “No platform for white supremacy. No platform for racism. No platform for hate.”
The Jackson statue was originally installed in 1921, while the Lee statue went up in 1924. Philanthropist Paul McIntire paid for both statues. Local activists have spent years highlighting how the statues were erected as part of the Jim Crow era in the 1920s and that they represented an attack on Virginia’s Black residents.
A coalition of activists commended the city for moving quickly to take the statues down.
Watch the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue, below, and read reactions from the online activist community.
156 years after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, the Robert E. Lee statue has finally been removed in Charlottesville.pic.twitter.com/FH9JQv7XvO
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) July 10, 2021
Robert E Lee, still taking Ls 150 years after death.
— Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) July 10, 2021
Below: Zyahna Bryant, a community organizer and activist, created the 2016 petition calling for the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue https://t.co/KojLgMGHSU
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) July 10, 2021
robert e lee is about to make his final surrender pic.twitter.com/Y8uRxaXk7J
— molly conger (@socialistdogmom) July 10, 2021
bye, bitch. https://t.co/Omtxf07Y0t
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) July 10, 2021
BRAVO to Charlottesville for deciding to take down the statue of Robert E. Lee, a symbol of failed White Supremacy.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) July 9, 2021
Now let's do that with systemic racism all across America.