08-17-2017, 09:26 AM
(08-17-2017, 08:05 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: The commission's decision regarding the Taney statue was that it should be moved to a location with more historical relevance. His connection to the city itself is loose, with his statue having been placed there because he was Francis Scott Key's brother in law. That's a pretty far fetched reason to have a monument to someone who said black people can't ever be citizens in a city that is 63% black.
The Lee/Jackson statue is being offered to the National Park Service for a battlefield.
The other two were originally going to remain. New signs were placed next to them last year explaining how they were propaganda used to promote the idea of the Lost Cause, but the mayor decided to just remove them as well.
That was the direction things were headed in Richmond, as well. I think what becomes of things in Richmond will be very interesting to watch. The city was one big battlefield and it was the capital of the CSA for the majority of its time in existence. Because of this, the new mayor, Levar Stoney, had discussed providing signs for context on Monument Avenue where a lot of these statues stand. Now, with the events in Charlottesville, he is more open to removal.
