It’s been nearly 4 years since hundreds of white supremacists from across the country descended onto Charlottesville, Virginia for a “Unite the Right” rally. Armed with tiki torches and Nazi slogans, these domestic terrorists targeted Charlottesville after the city decided to remove its Confederate statues and rename two parks which bore the names of Confederate leaders. During the violent confrontation, dozens of people were injured and Heather Heyer, a civil rights activist, was murdered when a white supremacist drove his car into a crowd of protesters.
Now, after years of litigation and violent protests, those statues are coming down. The city of Charlottesville removed the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from Market Street Park (formerly Lee Park) early this morning. The city also removed a statue of Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson from Court Square Park.
Robert E. Lee is the first of two statues being removed in the City of Charlottesville today. Stonewall Jackson statue is next. @NBC29 pic.twitter.com/INXpnhxcUu
— Andrew Webb (@Awebb2312) July 10, 2021
Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker, who gave a speech at the monument removal, said “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.”
The Stonewall Jackson statue has been removed from Court Square Park. pic.twitter.com/5lK399Bx52
— Charlottesville City (@CvilleCityHall) July 10, 2021
Activists have been trying to get the statues taken down for years, but it was a brave high school student, Zyahna Bryant, who led the charge in 2016 when she started a petition calling for their removal. What followed was countless lawsuits, before white supremacists glommed onto the controversy as their rallying cry. Bryant, who is currently enrolled at the University of Virginia, said “This is well overdue, … No platform for white supremacy. No platform for racism. No platform for hate.”
THAT girl.
My work here is done. pic.twitter.com/29Zh6xIrxJ— zyahna bryant. (@ZyahnaB) July 10, 2021
Bryant added, “The statues coming down is the tip of the iceberg, … There are larger systems that need to be dismantled. Educational equity is a good place to start.”
Many onlookers cheered and clapped as the statues were taken down and driven away:
A friend was sitting on his porch in Charlottesville this morning and got to witness one final retreat pic.twitter.com/0y6HlaB8Oa
— Clyde McGrady (@CAMcGrady) July 10, 2021
This is not erasing history. This is correcting who we honor from history with public statues.
Who we honor from history is typically who we honor in the present.
The conservators of racism want us to honor the conservators of slavery. No more.https://t.co/YoDyIV1dkc
— Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram) July 10, 2021
Robert E. Lee chose to wage war against America & helped kill 600K soldiers for his twisted vision of advancing slavery of Black people.
Today—156 years after his surrender—his statue has been removed from the Charlottesville public square
Good riddancepic.twitter.com/ZZHOxEvzZA
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) July 10, 2021
WATCH: Stonewall Jackson's statue was also removed this morning in Charlottesville.
It was erected in the 1920s, on land stolen from Black owners seven years earlier.
Today, two towering symbols of white supremacy are gone. pic.twitter.com/wDfpv7bQ4d
— ACLU of Virginia (@ACLUVA) July 10, 2021
Both statues, which have been up since the 1920s, will be stored until the City Council decides to sell, destroy or dispose of them. Under Virginia state law, the city is required to solicit parties interested in taking the statues during an offer period that ended Thursday. It received 10 responses to its solicitation, presumably from museums and historical societies, and possibly white supremacists looking for new lawn ornaments.
(via NPR, image: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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