Torch wielding protestors yell Nazi slogans as they defend Confederate statue

[Belsnickel]

(05-15-2017, 11:37 PM)Dill Wrote: Not a lot of background on this. Maybe the city just wanted to sell the statue.

It's not like the statue that was completely dismantled in Louisiana.
The protestors could just buy Lee and put him upon somebody's lawn.

There has been a large movement from the citizens seeking to have the statue removed and the park renamed because of the slavery issue. I'll provide a little more background on this since I'm the most local one to this issue (and my wife and I talked about this at length last night).

The park and the statue were two gifts by Paul McIntire, who gave many things to Charlottesville. http://www.charlottesville.org/departments-and-services/departments-h-z/neighborhood-development-services/historic-preservation-and-design-review/historic-resources-committee/transit-station-exhibits/paul-mcintire-s-gifts-to-charlottesville

The Lee and Jackson statues are actually good pieces of art, and have been noted for the horses in particular. In truth, if you really want to talk about a problematic statue there is the one of that is in the middle of a street that is the Lewis, Clark, and Sacajawea monument. Yes, we want to be proud of them as they are locals, but the cowering indigenous female provides a very problematic image if we are actually looking at the works in this way. Of course, there isn't a strong contingent of indigenous people in the city (and even if there were, Virginia tribes can't get federal recognition) so no one is raising a fuss about it.

Honestly, there are a lot of other racial issues in the city. There has been some serious gentrification that has gone on, issues with low-income housing, etc. But, some of the more well-to-do members of the community are using this as a token battle against the injustices faced by minorities instead of even discussing how the former location of the slave auction block downtown has only a plaque in the ground.