It has been a year since Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced plans to remove the statue of Confederate General, Robert E. Lee. However, on Wednesday, the statue was finally removed from its pedestal on Monument Avenue in Richmond.
According to CBS News, after the initial plans to remove the statue were announced last year. There was a delay in the process due to court challenges. However, Virginia Supreme Court officially ruled that the state could proceed with the plans of removing the statute.
Governor Northam said, “The public monuments reflect the story we choose to tell about who we are as a people. It is time to display history as history, and use the public memorials to honor the full and inclusive truth of who we are today and in the future.”
BREAKING: Robert E. Lee statue, erected in 1890, removed from its pedestal on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia. pic.twitter.com/RGRZQXDA9n
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 8, 2021
The statue, which was erected in 1890, will be moved to a storage unit until officials decide what they will do with it. The removal of confederate statues started to take place as protests erupted throughout the world last year following the murder of Geoge Floyd.
As we previously reported, the initial announcement of the Robert E. Lee statue removal came after Richmond’s Mayor, Levar Stoney, announced he would be seeking to remove the other four Confederate statues along Monument Avenue.
Last year during a press conference, Governor Northam said, “We put things on pedestals when we want people to look up. Think about the message that this sends to people coming from around the world to visit the capital city of one of the largest states in our country.”
Rev. Robert W. Lee IV, a descendant of Robert E. Lee, also showed his support for the removal of the statue at the time.
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TSR STAFF: Jade Ashley @Jade_Ashley94
