Statue honoring Confederate general removed in US, Virginia

WASHINGTON

Officials in Virginia removed a statue honoring traitorous Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Wednesday, ending a long-standing controversy as a jubilant crowd lauded the end of its time in the state capital.

Onlookers chanted "Whose streets? Our streets," and erupted in choruses of "Hey, hey, hey goodbye" as a crane hoisted the 12-ton statue of Lee sitting augustly atop a horse from the base where it had sat since 1890.

The statue in Richmond was part of a wider effort known as the Lost Cause Movement that sought to rewrite history to frame the Confederacy as a noble cause, rather than what it was: a secessionist movement fighting to maintain the legal right to own Black people as slaves.

Monuments honoring Confederate figures, including the one of Lee in Richmond, have been a flashpoint of nationwide protests that erupted following the brutal murder of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020. Floyd's death renewed protests against police brutality and racial inequities in how America polices its streets.

“After 133 years, the statue of Robert E. Lee has finally come down—the last Confederate statue on Monument Avenue, and the largest in the South," Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said in a statement.

"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," he added.

Northam announced plans to remove the statue in June 2020 but had been delayed by two lawsuits seeking to prevent the action. But Virginia's top court ruled last week that it could come down, opening the door for the removal.